Mummy Doggy walks again

This is about the fall and rise of Mummy Doggy, and about how she became a pet dog.

Chandrika Hassan first wrote to me in mid-February to tell me about a dog she looked after in Bangalore who had become disabled after a car ran over her hind legs. The dog was a female who had been pregnant nine months before the accident. Here's a picture of her taken at that time.



Mummy Doggy, as Chandrika named her, was taken to a Bangalore NGO but the vet there said her hind legs were paralyzed and recommended euthanasia.

"I could see the life and hope in her eyes," Chandrika wrote in her email. "I really don't think she has to die."

Since she reported that the hind legs could move slightly, I suggested that she should go to a Bangalore-based homeopath I had heard of who treats animals, Dr Delna Tarapore, who had been highly recommended by some people I know. It turned out Mummy Doggy had femur fractures in both hind legs, not a spinal injury, and both Dr Tarapore and a vet called Dr Pawan felt she would recover with medication, supplements and rest. Animal lover Reena Puri guided Chandrika about care - Reena has had experience looking after such cases before.



Fast foward to the happy ending. From Chandrika's recent email:

"Mummy doggy is doing really great. She has become very cheerful but the best thing is that she's able to walk now and that too on all four legs. She hops on three legs when she wants to run. I'm sure she'll run and play around normally soon. She has become a sweet naughty girl, follows me around the house, likes to sleep with us on the bed (she can jump and climb on the bed without any help). The way she coped up during the recovery process is truly amazing. She would do something different every day and it was like telling us 'Hey, did you see me do that? I'm recovering!' Its an immerse joy to see her improve every single day. We are going to get her spayed next month and then she'll go to Chennai and live with my parents."



Stories like this are such mood-uppers. Isn't it great that there are some sincere dog lovers and nice doctors in the world? At least a few animals get the life they deserve.

Photos: Chandrika Hassan
Bangalore

The Indy and the cat, Part 7

Continuing our Awwww stories for cat + dog lovers. This one's from Charu Shah, whose red tabby Bittu has his own blog. I am a huge fan of large tabby toms and dream of kidnapping this magnificent feline some day (just dreaming...don't worry, Charu).

For those who'd like to know what our non-pedigreed cats are "officially" called: it's Domestic Indian Short-hair.

From Charu:

Bittu is my pet cat, who came into our lives around 8 years back and changed us totally!
His story can be read on www.mypetbittu.blogspot.com

AN INCIDENT THAT HAPPENED RECENTLY (MARCH 2010) WHICH I WANT TO SHARE WITH EVERYONE

After Bittu came home we started noticing other animals in our building, so slowly Rani started getting food from us. Rani is now a 13 year old doggy. I didn't have too much knowledge of sterilization etc, so I let rani have pups. Out of the many she delivered outside and within my building, a couple are still with us. Tutti, the elder one, who is now six years old and Julie, who is 4.5 years old now.

There are other cats also, Tiny, Kali, Simba, Stumpy/Champi, and new additions - two ginger males and one black cat.

Bittu was attacked by a male cat when he was just 1 year old, and he was in a real bad condition at that time. So naturally we kept him safe from any other cat or dog. Specially Julie, since she had a habit of killing pigeons and kittens. There were times when I rescued pigeons from her mouth and gave them to NGOs for recovery. (If Julie had been a stray dog, hunting for food, I would have let her kill the birds, but since she gets enough food there was no reason for her to kill them).

When Bittu went out for his walks Mom or I would be with him, and at night, when the dogs would come running on seeing me with bittu, I would panic and carry Bittu home.
Gradually I started to let Bittu be (I am always around him as he is blind and can't protect himself), and let the dogs come near him, but not too close. At times, Tutti would come and lick Bittu, but she was the gentle one so I never worried about her hurting him.

This is the story of Bittu and Julie.

Bittu loves to roam around the back of my house. So every time the door is opened to fill water bowls for the dogs, he manages to run out! This time I went and strolled with him for some time and then put him on the water tank. Julie as usual saw me going out of the house, so followed. She jumped up and came to sit next to me and Bittu. Julie loves to sit next to me and get her head rubbed, shake hands and wants to lick me, which I don't allow.



Julie came and sat next to Bittu. Even at night she runs after him trying to make him play with her, but he gets scared and just runs away! Even here, you can see Bittu's reaction to Julie sitting next to him.



She moved in closer to try and play.





This is how she showed her love!!!!!

I couldn't believe how she licked his forehead and tried to make friends with him!

TO EVERYONE WHO BLAMES STRAY DOGS FOR KILLING THEIR CATS, PLEASE LOOK AT THIS PIC. IF YOUR CAT HAS BEEN KILLED BY A STREET DOG, IT'S YOUR FAULT THAT YOU LET IT OUT WITHOUT SUPERVISION!

Julie has since then tried to sniff Bittu everytime she's around him, and she always tries to play with him. Though he is scared of her, Bittu tolerates her and this was an amazing moment for me!

Bittu gets really wild when he hears other cats having a fight or even smells other cats, but when the dogs are around, he doesn't react wildly! He lets Julie and Tutti lick him and does try to escape at times but now I know that my cat is safe from other cats, when these dogs are around! Now I go away, leaving Bittu with the dogs, and I dont have to worry about other cats coming and attacking Bittu, as I know that the dogs are going to protect him, come what may!

Charu Shah
Mumbai

Hero INDogs of Ahmedabad

These alert dogs prevented a burglary in the housing society they live in (Shakuntal Society, Usmanpara), in February this year.

Protecting territory from intruders is a largely unacknowledged service performed by street and building dogs across urban India. Ironically, these dogs were unpopular with the society residents prior to this incident. Dog-lover Meenal Shah had been told to stop feeding them. Their status changed once they displayed their true worth. Long live INDogs!

Click here for Lisa Warden's video about these dogs, posted earlier in this blog.

Click here to read the "watchdog database" I've been compiling, documenting cases in which Indian dogs (INDogs and Pariah-mix) have proved to be good guard dogs. If you know of similar incidents please email me!

And here I've copied the news report that appeared in Times of India, 20 February 2010:

Stray dogs scare away thieves
Vasundhara Vyas Mehta/TNN

‘Ahmedabad: Manjula Shah had a bad cold that woke her up at 4.40 am on Friday. This resident of Usmanpura got up to clear her throat and was annoyed by the stray dogs barking around the housing society.

Irked by the pack of dogs, Shah, 60, who lives on the first floor of Shakuntal Society peeped out of her room window. What she saw shocked her. An unidentified vehicle had come inside the society gate. The car took a round of the plot slowly, then stopped near a car close to the exit gate.

“Two men got off. They had torches and were looking around the place. Then they went close to the car nearest to them and started peeping inside. As they were about to break into the car, the stray dogs started barking. The hassled duo tried to turn them away, but the dogs kept barking. The two men panicked and decided to drive away,” said one of the neighbours.

“This is the dog family that society members have been trying to get rid of. They have even complained against feeding the dogs as they create a menace around here,” said Minal Shah, a businesswoman living in the society.

She added that she stopped feeding the dogs after encountering opposition from neighbours. “I used to do it discreetly. I am glad that people have realised the advantage of keeping them,” she said.’


Photos: Meenal Shah
Ahmedabad

Please help find a home for Hope

This little dog is in Bangalore. She is as sweet-natured as she is beautiful. Please help her find a good home! It doesn't take long to email a link to your friends. Think of your own dog - Hope is as deserving as any of our pets so give her two minutes of your time, please.

Name: Hope
Age: 1 year
Gender: Female
Neutered: Yes
Vaccinations: Fully vaccinated up to 2011. Is in great health.
Personality: A very sweet, playful and friendly dog. Will bark and let owners know when she wants to eat or go out. Loves attention. Very adaptable.

Contact: Shipra Agarwal o0chicklet0o@gmail.com
+919916192657

Bangalore

Meenu, Vetaal and Zoolie need a home soon

These are three good-looking gentle mix-breeds in Pune. They all need new homes soon, as they are not treated well in the neighbourhood and the only person who looks after them, Aishwarya Vishwanath, will soon have to leave the city. She has already done a wonderful job rehoming some of the dogs in her area, but these ones still remain on the street.

Please help! All three are superb watchdogs and would be perfect for a farmhouse/weekend home.



Above: Meenu, neutered female, 6 years old, very docile, calm, friendly and adaptable. Will make a sweet and loyal pet. Excellent guard dog, doesn't allow strangers to enter premises at night.



Above: Vetaal, male, 1 year old. Shy and meek but superb watchdog. Very energetic. Neutered.



Above: Zoolie, female, neutered, 1 year old. Very friendly and good-natured. Can be a great pet or guard dog.

The three are very close and if possible they should be adopted together.

Contact: Aishwarya Vishwanath - 9766264758, sweetnsmart17@gmail.com
Helping Homeless Animals

Pune