At the very now with Z'ev. Porcupine wandered on the yard. Despite Wayne and I hollering...he HAD to pounce. He's plastered with them.y

Ugh... Sorry to hear. Can't even imagine having to pull out porcupine quills.

I'm sorry you and your dog have to go through that. Makes me glad I don't live where there are porcupines. I did growing up and, our dog got a snout full of quills a few times. That is one painful experience for dog and owner alike.

I've done it with my first girl 45 years ago. Pliers and a box of milk bones. Then, removed done that Ami had about a month ago. But he had tho go to the vet as they were in his mouth, as well as hid snout and legs. So that's two unexpected surgery/blood test/sedation bills. Gotta do something about this porcupine thing, getting expensive!

I had just read this post, When I happened to catch the evening news showing two dogs with faces full of porcupine quills.   It looked painful!  Poor Zeve.  

Z'ev wouldn't bear weight on his right foot last night.  I had to lift him down the stairs to his crate and he cried when I picked him up.  So, I don't know if they missed a quill or just pain from the removal.  He seems to be walking a bit better this morning.  If he doesn't begin to dramatically improve I'll be calling the vet back...

She also thought he was underweight...which we have been pondering also.  He eats like a horse, though so i may be feeding him too little.  But, his monocytes were a bit high, not terrible, just a bit.  Could be just the stress of the incident or...anyway, next week, after he's healed from this, I'm worm the dogs since it's been a while.  Then we'll get him checked out in the fall.

Poor little guy.  But..glad we had the muzzle.  His breathing was really shallow, he was completely zonked, and when Wayne checked his heart rate, it was slow and irregular.  Also he was cold to touch.  So, I kept disturbing him to bring him to consciousness.  He was not pleased.  I didn't care...a couple of times, thought he was dead.

I'd tell the vet to be very careful with sedatives and anesthesia after that.

For feeding, I measure what I put out, I offer a huge portion for three days in a row, way more than I know the dog can possibly eat. I measure the leftover after the dog walks away the first time. I take the average of what they ate and, that's how much I feed them.

Mine eat raw and, sometimes get whole animals. Fresh road kill the authorities around here bring them or, a gut shot deer during hunting season that a neighbor doesn't want to bother with cleaning. That's how I learned that my Knight prefers to gorge and fast on a three day cycle. He will eat 10-15 lbs all at once then, not eat for three days. Sounds horrible to us humans but, were he a wild canine, that would be natural to him so, I allow him to eat his way.

Silver eats once per day. Halo twice per day. Kaila (puppy) eats 3 times for one day, twice for two days then, won't eat for one day, then starts over. Just my personal opinion that I should let the dogs choose how they eat and, make whatever they choose possible for them as long as they maintain a good weight and, are healthy.

They always have free access to kibble but, that's just a supplement, if they think they need more than I offer that day. With four dogs, a 50 lb sack of kibble lasts me 2-3 months - the barely nibble at it but, will eat it if that's all there is and, they are hungry.

I do prefer to free feed kibble unless I have one with no appetite control that would eat everything in sight, hungry or not. I only had one Queensland Heeler like that - dog would eat, vomit for eating too much and, eat more, did not know when to stop eating if there was food available.

Poor Z'ev. I would hope he would learn from this, but in the moment I'm not sure all lessons really stick.