Feeling Broken-hearted
 

[F]Hi there, well house is up for sale and we hope to be living our dream January 2010, which we are really looking forward to; however, I have one reservation which are my dogs......basically I have two westies they are actually half-sisters, one is 10 the other is 5, they idolise each other, the thing is the 10 year old the vet has said because of her health issues (she has Atopy - a skin condition) she is on steroids , they would not advise us to take her with us. So a big dilemma, I dont want to split them up.....so I have to rehome them :( Hubby says we cannot put our life on hold because of the dogs, which I understand, but they are my babies. I feel sick to the pit of my stomach when I think about leaving them. None of our family want to be burden with them.

Is or has anyone been in the same situation?[/FONT]

Re: Feeling Broken-hearted
 

Hubby is right, one of many painful sacrifices i'm afraid.

Re: Feeling Broken-hearted
 

We put our lives on hold for our dogs for years. Then a couple of years ago our male died at 15. Our female (his mum) was still alive at 17 when we decided to come to Dubai last year. We thought the chanced of her surviving the flight were next to nil. We made a really nice flyer with a photo of her and sent it to all and sundry. Our really close and long time friends (who have an elderly dog of their own and love animals) took her in. My friends dad also lived there and he doted on the dogs. She survived five months without us. We got a call early one morning from our friends saying they were at the vets and that it looked like the dog had some type of brain inflammation and the vet wanted to know whether to start treatment or let her go. We decided at 17 and a half it was her time to go. The kids cried for a whole day, was very sad. But in some ways the decision was made easier by not physically being there.

Your dogs could live to be oldies like ours so you have to weigh that up before you put your move on hold.

Re: Feeling Broken-hearted
 

I do sympathise with your husbands point of view a lot. But that does not mean you are being silly about a couple of dogs. I have two cats, when we were contemplating whether to go to Bermuda it was a big factor - if they couldn't go for any reason, neither would we. It will be the same for Australia. I took them for life is how I saw it and thankfully so does my husband.

If my pets went to family I could possibly cope with it, but I couldn't take them to Battersea dog / cat home.

Anyway I am wondering is it worth getting a second opinion on the older dog being fit to travel. I think animals are tougher than we think.

Re: Feeling Broken-hearted
 

I dont quite understand why she cant go to australia, thousands of dogs here have atopy and are treated for it, including steroids. Or does the vet mean she would not cope with the journey?

Finding a home for the 10 year old isnt going to be easy, if you feel that strongly about the dogs, tell husband they are going with you! They can get the same care in brisbane as you get them in the UK.

Re: Feeling Broken-hearted
 

I don't really understand the problem. If the Atopy is controlled with oral steroids and is managed successfully with those, just fly into the same city as the quarantine center and then you can hand over the medication to the quarantine staff. They are very very good.

Its a 25 hour journey on a plane. As a dog owner I was in panic about it all, but more so than my dog who took it in his stride. Its not a nice thing to have to do, but I think we all over dramatise the shipping of them.

Re: Feeling Broken-hearted
 

We too put our lives on hold til our beloved pooches died - 13 and 19. However I would have taken them had they been 10 . At least then I could look back and say I tried.

Re: Feeling Broken-hearted
 

Morning,
thought id throw my 10 cents worth into the ring.....
I work in an animal refuge here in Queensland and we have many animals that are surrendered from 1 month up to about 8 or 9 years. I get calls from owners who for whatever reason have to surrender there older animals all the time. It is very difficult to re home older animals as said before.
In my opinion, if I had an older dog which for what ever reason couldn't be brought with us I would have it euthanasied. Some dogs which are separated from their owners pine terribly, we see it day in and day out here. Sometimes you need to be cruel to be kind.
Good luck with your decision.

Angela

Re: Feeling Broken-hearted
 

Hi

I feel for you, as we left behind our 2 year old cocker when we came out here 16 months ago. My husband was adamant she was not coming and we had friends who were very keen to have her, I don't think I could have left her at a dog's home, however I did have to leave my horse at an animal sanctuary and that was heart breaking. We keep in touch with friends who have the dog and she has a wonderful life with them and they adore her and I am able to get 6 monthly updates on my old horse.

I have to admit that it is my biggest regret that we didn't bring the dog, I know she is happy now in her new home but it hurt so much for a long time. Probably not what you want to hear....

Maybe get a second opinion about your dog's health, to really make sure you have covered everything. Good luck x

Re: Feeling Broken-hearted
 

We brought 4 dogs aged between 2 and 13 years - the 10 year old has had major skin issues since she was 6 months and has Atopy she came over with no problems, the Sydney quarantine carried on her medication, you get a mobile number for the kennel maid that is looking after your dog and when I rang she always knew all the dogs weights and how they were doing, I was very impressed with them including when we visited a week after they arrived. The two dogs can go in with each other and the staff are wonderful.

I worked in rescue for my breed in the UK and unlike here it was fairly easy to find homes for the 'oldies' in the UK you will have a breed rescue or several for Westies, just search on google for 'west breed rescue' to find your local one, and maybe ring your local co-ordinator for a chat on the plus side you have time on your side most breed rescues work on the basis of rehoming from home to home - so this means the dogs stay with you until a home is found for them, ie less stress for the dogs and no kennel expenses for the rescue. I have rehomed dogs for people that were emigrating and heard every reason under the sun, 'sometimes' it is in the dogs own interest, but mostly it wasn't and the main reason was the cost of taking the dog or people simply didn't want them, in this case they were better off coming through us. There is also www.oldies.org.uk website who just co-ordinate the rehoming of oldies, a lovely organisation

My old boy aged 15 years I left behind with my best friend but he was unsteady on his feet and didn't like car travel amongst other things. My 13 year old girl (now 14) is quite the opposite, very fit.

I would go back to your vet and tell them you want to take both dogs and that's that. There is no reason that your dog can't go, one days travel and maybe a skin flare up at the other end, but it'll be controlled after arriving at quarantine. We used www.overhills.co.uk as our pet shipper cannot speak highly enough of them, will use them again when I import a puppy from UK in next few months..

Least with all of above you can make an informed decision what is right for you and your dogs.

There is also a relocation company just outside Brisbane (Jimboomba) that excepts pets in rentals until you rent/buy a home. We used them for several weeks and had 4 dogs with us.

Take care

Re: Feeling Broken-hearted
 

If you see them as your babies, don't leave them. You'll always wonder if you did the right thing. :(

Re: Feeling Broken-hearted
 

Agree with Angela about leaving your dog at a rescue especially some breeds who stand very little chance, stay the statuary time stressed out and then leave this world with a very caring person by their side albeit kind it's still a stranger doing the dirty work........ but there are other options if a GOOD family or friend home isn't possible, in UK especially there are breed rescues for every breed that work on home to home basis and/or have foster homes so there are more options. Oz has breed rescues as well but with the vast distances logistics is harder.

Failing that if there is no 'valid reason' why they can't come stand your ground and make your other half aware of this.

Re: Feeling Broken-hearted
 

If you are considering re-homing, please get in touch with WHWT rescue. I can guarantee (having run the Scottish branch before) that you will be able to re-home both together and the health issues won't be an issue.

There are waiting lists for Westies so please have a think if that is what you decide to do.

PM me if you want local branch information for Rescue in the UK.

Re: Feeling Broken-hearted
 

If you feel heart broken now, just think how you will feel when you leave them. I would try and bring them with you, cant be any worse than splitting them up and not knowing where they end up.

Re: Feeling Broken-hearted
 

I know each persons circumstances are different, but I simply couldn't even consider leaving my dog behind. I would be a mess knowing that she's sitting back in the UK wondering where I've gone.