Until today, Sweepy is still receiving greetings and gifts by mail and electronic mail. He just turned 11 (77 in human years) last March 18 and we thank everybody, everydoggy, everycat in blogville and FB who posted about it. Yes, he is more popular than me ;-)
A lot of peeps (people) were asking me how I was able to maintain my 'hounds' until their senior years since Sweepy's family practically died of old age (Pica at 17, Sumo at 12, and his brother Bogart 9years old) and how most of my dogs look young and healthy. Yes, this post is about senior dogs ;-)
I guess I was lucky to have practical vets (annual visits only for check up) who supports my natural regimen for dogs. This means no more kibbles (a lot of dog friends whose diet include only dog food kibbles have died with organ failure) but we only have home-cooked meals for Sweepy and now the new pet Babur. If Sweepy is younger, I would gladly feed him raw meats and uncooked bones, but senior dogs need softer, easy-to-chew foods like chicken and turkey meat. Sweepy also take virgin coconut oil and glucosamine supplements which explains why he still runs around and is very agile (Sweepy still jumps on top of the garden table to avoid the other puppy Babur who is always playful) and he gets groomed regularly.
And although we support animal welfare, care and protection, we have avoided joining groups that take drastic measures to advance their cause. We still support and take action (Sweepy is a superdog) and we prefer sustainable ones like working within the community (work with the Mayor and village groups) and for abroad, we sign petitions and call attention to abuses or call for assistance.
There is always a wide berth for people and animals to work together. After all, God did not only create humans to inhabit this planet. Yet people call the shots all the time and foul up.
Animals (and plants and nature as a whole) are our partners and it takes a more humane approach, or should I say a more wholistic approach, to realize this and enjoy the bounty within our land.
We wish to thank Suzanne Clothier and her practical guides to animals, Care to Causes, Elizabeth Glixman who does rescue work abroad, the huge dog blogging community (with earth-shaking activities!) and to all animal friends and animal lovers, we thank you for being part of such an exciting existence . . .
