Dental Hygiene in Dogs

Imagine not brushing your teeth for years on end! Not only would you have bad breath and feel uncomfortable all the time, but you would also develop terrible toothaches or even severe gum diseases. This is precisely what happens to some dogs when their owners are oblivious of the importance of good dental hygiene and do not send them for dental scaling. In case you are unaware, oral care is equally important for dogs as it is for us humans.

Very Bad Teeth

Missing and decayed teeth

By the time they are past 10 years old, the teeth in these dogs would have become rotten. At this point, some dog owners would fall into a dilemma, worrying that their dogs are too old to go under general anaesthesia to clean their teeth (dental scaling). However, did you know that dogs who have bad teeth left uncared for are at risk of death? Bad teeth will cause septicemia, which is blood poisoning. Septicemia will kill a dog, thus it is best to take your dogs to have their teeth cleaned. 

Many rotten teeth extracted during dental

Most dog owners may not know this: the ideal situation is to bring your dogs for dental scaling every 2 to 3 years. As they get older, the risk of going under general anaesthetic (GA) is higher and riskier. What we do for our senior rescues, we first send them for a heart ultrasound, to ensure their heart is reasonably good. Then we send them for dental, but not under GA. Their dental would be done under Local Anaesthetic (LA) and sedation. Compared to GA, sedation is safer and puts your dog at a lower risk. Although your dog's teeth may not be cleaned as thoroughly under sedation in comparison to GA, it sure beats having rotten teeth!

After Dental - pearly whites

One vital mistake dog owners have to ensure not to make is to bring their dogs to the groomers to clean their teeth. Groomers are not professionally trained to clean your dog's teeth. Imagine how terrifying and painful it would be for your dog to stand still for such a long period of time, waiting for the groomer to complete their "teeth-cleaning process". It might be tempting to see the clean, shiny teeth that the groomer promised you and showed you samples of. Unfortunately, this is all superficial. Groomers are unable to clean your dog's gums, which in other words mean that your dog's dental hygiene problems would not be fixed. You wouldn't let your hairdresser clean your teeth, would you? Therefore, please do not allow groomers to clean your dog's teeth. Why not simply take the safe option and just bring your dog to the vet?

Rotten tooth that fell out while dog was eating

Written by: Chu Yi

Benefits of Adopting from Hope

If you've been sitting on the fence about adopting a dog, especially from HOPE, here's why you should:

We take very good care of our dogs. So when they head to their forever homes, they would have been through thorough medical checks including checking for their liver and kidney health, heartworm and tick fever.

Our dogs are sterilised if not done, microchipped, and even their dental is taken care of.

Often, vet bills can range from $500 and above, but we're only asking for an adoption fee of $350 and that you love them till the end of time, because they deserve that much.

Should our dogs have minor health issues, we will highlight them to you.

We believe in being upfront.

The dogs who are currently in our care, Adoption Page, who will make lovely members of their future families.

To open up your home to them, please PM us or email us at hopedogrescue@singnet.com.sg and we will be happy to tell you more.

Written by: Felicia

Teri the Old Abandoned Dog

Teri at the vet (1st visit right after rescue)

How could someone dump an old dog outside, or worse on a road? We can only say they are heartless.

Teri at a foster home

This poor Jack Russell Terrier was left to fend for herself. At 14 years old, she may have past her prime, but it is also the time when she needs a little extra love and care to spend her few remaining years. Instead, she was abandoned for god knows how long before someone found her in a parking lot at Jurong last December. The dog had no microchip. The rescuer took the dog off the streets, and eventually surrendered her to HOPE on 19 Apr 2021 when she could not trace the owner and could no longer keep the dog.

A very sad and confused dog

Teri was immediately examined by our vet after we took her in. At 4.2kg, she is underweight. Probably a little fearful, she did not like her mouth to be touched. Otherwise she was rather sweet and well-behaved at the vet. A series of medical tests were done for Teri, which is a standard protocol for all new rescues in HOPE. These were findings by the vet:

• Spinal pain
• Hind legs knuckling
• Red skin but no signs of itchiness
• Signs of dementia because she gets stuck in corners, walks in circles 
• sometimes
• 6 teeth left
• Gums are red, sore and receding.
• Hardened lump on right last nipple
• Unlikely to be sterilized

At the vet

Initially, we wanted an X-ray for her spine but she would not keep still. So, we will head back to the vet for a back X-ray and a biopsy of her lump in the nipple. She will also get a cartrophen jab for joint pain in her next vet visit.

One swollen and hardened nipple. We have scheduled an upcoming biopsy

Vet checking Teri

Knuckling in her hind legs -generally a nerve issue

Such a sad dog

Sore gums / poor dental health 

Teri seems alright at this point, and eating well. She is a very sweet old dog, but has a host of underlying ailments that requires medical treatment.

Our resources are limited especially after we have spent so much on Zeus, but we simply can't turn a blind eye and not help Teri out. If you can help with our medical bills, please email hopedogrescue@singnet.com.sg

Note: Teri is now in a home. Thankfully, kind people do exist.

Isaac Found His Forever Home

Isaac has finally found his forever home (Yay!).  

Isaac is a senior dog with a sweet and gentle soul. It was a sad sight when Isaac was found wandering all alone along Upper Thomson in October last year. He spent his days outdoors hiding under cars as his bums had callouses that showed he had been living on rough surfaces for a long period. He was probably abandoned and his initial foster could only look after him for a month. When Isaac was finally handed over to us in November, our volunteers were determined to find him the "right" home . . . . but it wasn't easy to find a nice family that would not leave him alone for long hours and be able to apply eye drops and feed him 4x a day. Also, he would appear aloof and stare into space, or cower and try to be invisible to keep himself safe as that was how he must have lived.

Isaac and his youngest sister <3 

As a senior dog, Isaac had some medical ailments, was a fussy eater and had been losing weight. He could go on for a day or two without food.

As fate would have it, Isaac's new mama saw him on our social media and reached out to us. When we set up the adoption viewing, it was raining heavily on that day but the family of 6 still came down in 2 cabs nonetheless to see Isaac. We knew then that Isaac had found his new family. His new mama cradled him in her arms - it was love at first sight!

We are so happy that Isaac's adoptive family shower him with plenty of love and  attention every day; constantly making little adjustments around the house so that Isaac is well looked after and comfortable.

Isaac gets to eat yummy home cooked meals and goes on daily walks with his new family. He now has 3 hooman little sisters that he stays with, and he sits on the table to accompany them while they study. He goes to the playground with them and  sleeps on the same bed with them.  Isaac is very much loved by his family, having won over all their hearts. His Mama says he is the son they never had and every night, Papa pats Isaac to sleep ❤

Isaac now has a safe place to spend his golden years. He's one lucky doggy and we're so happy for him.

Isaac was adopted in February 2021.

Tribute to Cody

Today, we had to say goodbye to our dear Cody boy. He passed on this morning in his sleep.

6 years ago, we rescued Cody who used to live in Punggol forest. He lost his home, when land was cleared for modernization. He moved to a new territory where he was attacked by resident dogs. Timid, fearful and fraught with wounds, Cody was rescued by a feeder who then contacted HOPE.

Cody spent some years in commercial boarding where he took a while to overcome his fear of humans. But, over time, he developed a calm demeanor, and we see him as the strong silent type, often with a look of stoic resignation towards his fate.

Good ol' Cody spent almost 6 long years waiting for a place to call home. As Cody is not one who would show affection readily, he was always overlooked at adoption drives. It did not help that he was often plagued with health issues that required care. Despite all that, he finally found true love with Nicolette and Mark who loved him with all their heart

Sadly Cody's happiness was short-lived. 10 months after he found a home, he fell very sick. He went downhill very fast, and this morning, he passed on peacefully in his sleep, surrounded by love at home.

Sad as we are, we believe it is better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all.

We want to express gratitude to the many people who helped Cody in this life. Thank you, Nicolette and Mark, for taking Cody into your home and giving him your love. And to all volunteers who have helped Cody, so that he was surrounded by love whenever he went.

Farewell Cody - run free to the rainbow and be healed again.

Cody died at home on 31 March 2021. He was 9.

Licensing Your Dog ? Many People Have Their Dogs Microchipped But Do They Actually License Their Dog?

The story goes like this. You find a dog. It looks a little shaken but none the worse for wear. Despite finding it wandering around aimlessly on its own, it looks relatively well cared for so you hold on to the hope that it is only lost, not abandoned. You managed to cajole the pup to you and secure it. You take it to a vet to be scanned for a chip and hurray, you find that it has one. Happy that you can reunite the dog with its rightful owner, you key the microchip number into AVS' microchip number enquiry link, only to find that the chip has not been registered because the dog is not licensed. 

Image taken from Lost & Found Facebook

Now imagine that you are the owner of that lost dog. You have done everything right up to that point. You adopted a dog and microchipped it. Loved it with all your heart. Made sure it wanted for nothing. One day, you did not realise that the door was not closed properly and your dog took it as an invitation to go exploring. So used to being led and watched over by you, it did not realize that it had wandered off far enough that it did not know the way home. Some kind soul found the dog and took it to the vet to have it scanned for a chip. If you had licensed your dog with the AVS, a simple mouse click would close this story with a happy ending. If you had not, then you might never know how this story ends. 

Using a microchip scanner, scan the dog to check if he is microchipped. 

This seems to be a common story in Singapore. Flip through the classifieds and you will find many pets with microchips being posted in the lost and found section. Many pet owners think that just microchipping their pet is sufficient. However, there is little point if the microchip is not registered somewhere with the owner's contact details. The microchip registry can also store other important information, for example, whether your dog has a medical condition so whoever finds it can be made aware and care for it accordingly while they wait for you to come pick your dog up. In Singapore, the microchip is registered when the dog is licensed with AVS.

It used to be that licensing a dog was troublesome and not the cheapest thing to do. The license was only valid for a year, or a few years, and you had to renew it at the end of each period. In September 2020, to encourage more pet owners to sterilize and license their dogs, AVS introduced a one-time license for sterilized dogs. This means that, for a low one-time payment of $35, a sterilized dog can get a license that is valid throughout its life. No more having to worry about the license lapsing because you forgot to renew it! 

We are not saying that licensing a dog means that a lost dog will always be found and returned. We are in no way saying that you are free to let your dog wander about without a care as long as it is licensed. Besides, the rule on keeping a dog leashed and properly supervised in public spaces still applies. However, we all know that some dogs have the heart of Indiana Jones or Houdini and sometimes they manage to get away from us no matter how much we try to control them. Licensing a dog just makes it much easier to reunite a lost dog with its owner when found rather than never knowing the fate of your lost dog even if it has already been found. We just think that it is sensible and worthwhile to pay $35 once for peace of mind knowing that you have a better chance of reuniting with your dog should it ever get away, though we hope this never happens!

Licensing a dog also helps with traceability when there is an outbreak of disease, for example, rabies. Think of it as the TraceTogether of pets! Though it does not work quite the same way, it serves the same purpose in contact tracing in the event of a disease outbreak.

All in all, licensing a dog has many pros and no cons. And it is even so simple and affordable to apply for a license now. To find out more about licensing a dog in Singapore and what to do when you have lost or found a pet, visit AVS website at https://www.nparks.gov.sg/avs/pets/owning-a-pet/getting-a-pet/getting-a-pet.

Written by : Samantha Yap

Tribute to Matthieu

People often say that first love is the most unforgettable. If that is true, then Matthieu will live on in our memories forever. Our dear boy Matthieu died at home peacefully surrounded by family on 26 February 2021. He was 19.

As you may all know, Matthieu was HOPE's very first special needs dog. We were first alerted to Matthieu's plight in 2012, when Mr Aziz found him after a terrible accident on Jurong Island. The accident resulted in Matthieu's incontinence and his hind legs being paralysed. At that time, Matthieu was estimated to be around 10 years old but he displayed a tenacity for life typically seen in a much younger dog – he clung on to life and continued to thrive against all odds. It wasn't an easy journey – Matthieu had to undergo acupuncture, massage and hydrotherapy sessions before he could walk in a wheelchair. Through it all, he has maintained his sweet and charming nature, and is generous with his affection.  Because of Matthieu, we at HOPE have learned so much about what it takes to care for special needs dogs. He gave us the confidence to help other special needs dogs that came along – Sida, Harper and Donut.

Matthieu when he was first rescued 

Even as we celebrate Matthieu's life, we also want to express gratitude to the many people who gave him a second lease of life. Thank you, Flora, for taking Matthieu into your home and giving him a comfortable space to spend his golden years. It took us six years to find a forever home for Matthieu so we were overjoyed when Flora adopted him and showered him with so much love. Thank you for taking care of Matthieu all this time and being there with him in his last moments. 

MattMatt & his Mama, Flora 

Forever Love 

Thank you to Mr Aziz for finding Matthieu, for feeding him and keeping him alive, and for roping in your daughter to help. Thank you both for your kind hearts! .

Matthieu and Mr Aziz, in earlier days 

And to every supporter and volunteer who has helped Matthieu one way or another – thank YOU! We wouldn't have come this far without you.  

Goodbye is not the end 

Matthieu’s name means "Gift of God", which is extra meaningful considering how he has gifted us with so many precious memories and life lessons during his short time on earth. So thank you, Matthieu. We will miss you, our dearest Ah Pek.  

Written by: Vanessa Tai