Gardening II

Beside orchids, i grow other specis too...like sunflowers, african daisies...and many others which i dont know the names. As long as the flowers look nice and beautiful, i will collect it...hahaha. People who came to my house wonder how i got the time to care for dogs and the garden. Now i am waiting for ann to come back for she agreed to help me to reorganise my garden....wow...so so happy. To say the truth, since taking up dog grooming, my garden is in a very neglected stage.

first my Bonsai plants



My sunflower



Worms found in the garden before and after being killed by me. It scared me.













African Daisy










Roses, my all time favorite but can never last long





Water lily












this one i love most

Retirement

What is the actual age for retirement? The Malaysian government set it at 55yrs….don’t you all think it is too early to retire? In oversea I understand the age of retirement is 65. For me 55 is too too young to retire….we cant just live on what we have in hand until the day we die…..for we don’t know at what age we will die.

Do people really become useless after retirement?

I retired three years ago but was re-employed based on a yearly contract by the same company performing the same job. Unfortunately, the HR department told me that they are unable to re-new the contract as the company regulation clearly states that a person can only be re-employed for a maximum of 3 years. Thus, this will be my last contract and I have to say goodbye to my trusted friends at my office - for real this time. I will be out of job by end of May (just learned from my boss he has to extend another month of contract, phew, am I relieved or what!). But, I am also starting to get worried. What I am going to live on? I am used to getting a monthly salary to pay for my household bills and now suddenly all this will not be available to me anymore! Yes, for sure I cannot survive on my EPF, it wont last me that long if I am to live till 80 or more….hahaha. (big hope to think I can live until that age!).

For years I have been working for a very good boss who is not only kind in his actions, he's also someone who looks after me like his own family member. He talked to me months ago and advised me to take up something, for he said, if I am not working, I might get old fast and deteriorate, physically & mentally. Isnt he a good boss?

So coupled with my passion in dogs, I decided to take up a dog grooming course. The whole course cost RM8,000 not inclusive of equipment that I need to buy. Gee….that is a lot of money for someone who is retiring soon but there is no way around it. You want to learn, you pay! But months after joining the class, I started to think why I took up this course. I can actually just join some petshops that has a pet grooming service and be a trainee, thus able to learn up the skill. This will enable me to learn the trade as well as earn some money for me to buy groceries. Income and skill - what more can I ask for. But then, come to think of it, who is willing to employ an old lady? Malaysia is not like other countries overseas, where you can find old men and women still employed.

Here in Malaysia, the local view of the employers is always to get rid of any old workers. The reason, the longer you work for a company, the more benefits you are entitled to thus eating up the company's so called profits. Otherwise in overseas, old workers are more cherished as they are like a walking encyclopedia of the company because they have amassed so much experience working. Why cannot Malaysia be more like overseas? Why cannot the government extend the retirement age to 65 and give the option to the workers to take up early retirement at age 55 if they want to. Not everyone who reach 55 will be old and lose their mind, not all who reach 55 will be labeled as invalid. I for one don’t think I look that old and nearly all my friends told me that I look way much younger than my actual age! Not kidding you.

So what am I going to do after retirement? That is my main worry. I cannot just sit at home all the time doing nothing as I will surely go mad. Although some people told me that since I got 6 dogs, I will be very occupied as they are a frisky lot. But that doesn’t sound like much work to me. No doubt it'll be very physical playing and keeping them well groomed, I need something to stimulate my mind. My principal is that if my mind don’t work, I will soon become useless, idle minded and unsociable. I rather be dead than end up like a silly old prune!

Gardening I - Orchids

After staying with my in laws for almost 10 years, i finally saved enough money to buy a house of my own. Mind you, my own money. Finally a house of my own where i got my own freedom. I am proud of myself . its after all the arguments with in laws that i finally managed to move out.

With love and patient, i finally got my garden going. My orchids blooming, my other flowers doing well too. althought i love the orchids but I never know the names of them. One of the most exciting experiences of orchid growers is when their long growing orchids flower. Perhaps this is the best time to appreciate the wonderful beauty of orchid flowers and pays off all the hard work and effort put in before. It can be equally exciting when orchid lovers found wild orchids flowering in its natural habitat.

Australian Silky Terrier 1 - Suki aka Traciamon Moon Catcher

After snoopy missing, i was really down. I did saw a Pom which i like but gee, so so costly. So in the end i went through the advertisement in Malay Mail and found one at the price of M$800. I bought suki for pet never thought of showing or heard of showing at all. I was very ignorant at that time...hahaha I was so ignorant that i viewed the puppies without even viewing the parents. It was on the day thati was to pick up suki that i met the parents and i got a shock of my life....as suki's father is one with curly coat. i was at that time wondering if i should take suki as all the while, silky terrier to me is a long straight coat dog.


Suki when small, the cute little puppy next to my Hazel. Hazel had gone missing too not long after snoopy. After this accident, i blocked up the hole that leads to the garden.



suki was pretty when puppy...but when she started to change colors, she looked terrible and horrible.
No one will say or believe she will one day become Malaysian Champion.

She is really a spoiled child....my children always commented that i love the dogs more than them. She is smart, she can sit, walk, beg, roll over when i am holding
the treats she love, she will do it even before i ask her to do.



this is the picture that someone commented that i should show her. She is around 2 yrs and this was taken just right after her 1st birth of puppies. That someone is a show breeder too and we were at one of the dogs gathering. After 3rd batch of puppies, i now decided not to breed her anymore. She is also the queen of the house, queen of my heart






you will never believe it, she really enjoy show life. She got excited too when we went to show and she acted as if she knew what is going on.

Suki... You will always remain the first in my heart.

Distemper

Encyclopedia of Canine Veterinary Medical Information

Canine Distemper Virus

For many years canine distemper virus was the most feared of the viral diseases affecting dogs. Parvovirus may have surpassed it in this regard but it is still a deadly virus that kills dogs and other members of the canine family. It is also infective to ferrets, mink, weasels and their kin among the Mustelidae family as well as raccoons, pandas and other members of the Procyonidae family. Recently it is believed to be the culprit in the death of a number of African lions. Canine distemper virus is an RNA virus from the morbillivirus family. In humans, measles is caused by a member of this virus family. Distemper virus is more likely to affect puppies than older dogs. This is probably due immunity acquired through vaccination or exposure to the virus naturally, leading to immunity. It can affect dogs of any age, though. It causes very variable clinical signs which makes ruling it out in a young sick dog a difficult process. In some dogs a transient fever, perhaps accompanied by a lack of appetite or mild depression may be the only signs of onset of distemper. Other dogs are affected by a systemic illness with nasal and ocular discharges, coughing, fever, depression, lack of appetite, vomiting and diarrhea. It is not uncommon for dogs to have some but not all signs associated with this disease. Since the inapparent infections often go undiagnosed and the severe infections often are present in dogs who die from distemper virus the mortality rate of canine distemper was always thought to be very high. Over time, it was recognized that a number of dogs were surviving the initial infection only to develop neurologic signs from one to a few weeks after infection. Seizures, behavioral changes, walking in circles and other ambulatory problems commonly develop. Many dogs who develop neurologic signs develop rhythmic motions or "tics". These are known as chorea. Sometimes affected dogs appear to be chewing gum due to the steady contractions of the muscles of the head. Dogs that survive both the initial infection and subsequent neurologic disease may go on to develop retinal damage, corneal discoloration or extreme hardness of the skin of the nose or foot pads. Infection with the distemper virus can be hard to diagnose with certainty. It is not uncommon for puppies with suggestive clinical signs to have a recent vaccination for the virus. This makes it hard to judge infection by antibody titers in many instances. There is a latent period from the time the virus enters a dog's body until clinical signs appear of approximately 10 to 14 days which means that puppies already infected may be vaccinated before clinical signs appear. The vaccination is not likely to be effective in preventing the disease when it is given after infection occurs. Sometimes the virus can be identified in infected tissues using immunofluorescent techniques. This works in the white blood cells several days after infection and in conjunctival (the pink part of the eye area) swabs up to 21 days after infection. Inclusion cysts may be seen in conjunctival swabs as well. General blood chemistry and blood cell count values are usually pretty uninformative when distemper is present. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) taps may indicate antibodies to distemper virus and increased protein. X-rays may show signs of pneumonia that are typical for viral infection but not definite for distemper virus alone. In many instances the course of the disease finally provides the diagnosis as initial signs of a generalized illness change to neurologic signs over time. At present there is no specific treatment to kill the distemper virus. General supportive care and control of neurologic signs such as seizures may result in a reasonable recovery from this infection. This may be a long term project, though. Prevention of infection is the best way to deal with canine distemper. Adequate vaccination of puppies is necessary. Veterinarians tend to begin vaccinations for this disease at approximately 6 weeks of age and continue until 12 or even 16 weeks of age at 3 to 4 week intervals. The vaccine is repeated due to interference with vaccination from antibodies passed to puppies in the mother's milk. These antibodies prevent the vaccine from working in about 75% of puppies at six weeks of age, about 25% of puppies at nine weeks of age and only a very few puppies at twelve weeks of age. The first vaccination is therefore an attempt to treat the 25% of puppies who are susceptible and the follow-up vaccinations are given to eventually provide protection to almost all puppies who receive vaccination. Some strains of distemper vaccine provide nearly lifelong immunity after the initial series and one-year booster while other strains provide a shorter duration of immunity. Some puppies develop signs of canine distemper following vaccination even though they do not appear to have the disease. In these puppies encephalitis occurs. This can be fatal, although most puppies probably recover. Canine distemper virus is shed in all body secretions from infected animals. Dogs may spread the virus for several weeks during the illness and subsequent recovery period. The virus is not especially stable in the environment, probably lasting no more than a few weeks. It is susceptible to disinfectants, especially the quaternary ammonium compounds such as Roccal (TM). The incidence of canine distemper infections is much lower than in the past. Good vaccination practices are almost certainly a big part of the reduction in cases of distemper. It is still present all over the world and continued vigilance on the part of veterinarians and dog owners is necessary to prevent a resurgence of this deadly illness.

English Cocker Spaniel - Snoopy

After having those three dogs for 5 years and then sent back to my parents, i dont have dogs until 10 yrs. later. That was when my children are all grown up...my elder daughter and son already started working. The first dog i had is Snoopy, english cocker spaniel, all black in color. Also my real darling. A pity is she was down with distemper for weeks after we got her and it was a surprised to doctor that she can recovered. With her recovery, she was down with fits. Imagine it like your own child....i was really tied down with her. Whenever she got fits, she will made noise to wake me up, and then i will be there with her, wipe her, clean her, hold her. The worst part is her fit was not once a night, its two or three times a night. Sometimes after the first fit, just when i was going to sleep soundly, her moans will wake me up again for her 2nd fits.

Life goes on with her having fits now and then, everyday before i left for work, i will talk to her, tell her dont play too much with my daughter's dog. The reason is that when she played too much, over excited, she will surely have fits in the night. She grows to be very nice dog...furs shinning for a sick dog.

The worst fit was after a year, she was not able to move for almost three weeks. I had to wipe her clean everyday after my work, mop the floor etc etc. I was at one time thought of putting her to sleep instead of having her suffer like this, but the vet said "well, you have come so far, and with snoopy fighting her sickness one after another, why not give her another chance. She might recover....give her sometime". Then a friend told me to buy some chicken meat and liver to cook for her to eat, saying that she needs something solid. He also told me to try to hang her under the staircase to get her to walk. So I did what he told me and also every evening after back from work, i hanged her under the staircase, and my daughter and myself will take turns to massage her legs. Surprisingly, she recovered after one month and Mr. Yeoh, the vet was very surprised to see it too. She recovered but with a limp when she walks. I love to see her running, she ran like a horse, hopping...

The good doesnt stay long, one day my daughter called me, saying that snoopy is missing from home. You see, we got a small hole for the dogs to go to the garden to do business....and my daughter told me the gate was locked, so no way can she ran out of the house. Someone who doesnt know she is a sick dog, must have climbed over the gate and took her. She gone just like that with me going round the housing area, looking high and low for her....crying for dont know what will happen to her. Putting up flyers everywhere, still no news of her.

I still miss her very very much.