Miley and Mika – puppy love ♥

Posted on May 23, 2012 by arkanimalcentre

Miley & Mika… those two names were rather famous on Ark Animal Centre’s Facebook and Twitter accounts — Miley’s water broke on the evening of 21 May 2012 sending Ark’s followers into a buzz of excitement as they sat waiting in anticipation of the birth of Miley’s puppies.

Miley when her water broke

Puppy number one was born soon after her water broke. She was later named Mika by her loyal Facebook supporters, who had been waiting like excited parents for the news of her birth.

Mika seconds after birth

A while after Mika was born, an empty sac came out along with this very strange black, green, slimy, smelly thing. We later discovered it was an unborn puppy that had died in her womb.

The empty sac and puppy fetus that came out after Mika.

After the shock of the strange black stuff Miley started contractions again. We were excited, Facebook was excited and we were all waiting. And waiting. And waiting. We waited so long Miley even had a quick nap.

Miley and Mika napping

Little Mika had her first taste of milk! She clearly loved it as she never stopped drinking after that and became a little pig! 🙂

Mika having her first taste of milk

Still in labour Miley and Mika were bonding nicely, but we were getting very worried. We gave her 20 more minutes & then rushed her off to the vet.

We could definitely tell that there was another baby inside but it seemed that her labour had stopped. Once we got to Fourways Vet at about 11pm, Dr. Pranish examined Miley. He was fantastic with her. He gave her 2 shots of oxytocin which should have helped the contractions. We did an x-ray which showed us that the baby was lying sideways and needed to move down. Miley’s uterus was, by now, very tired and therefore was not contracting. Below is a picture of the x-ray:

The baby that was stuck inside Miley

Tracy stayed with and comforted Miley through the entire night. Eventually after the injections had no reaction. We took Miley to Northrand Animal Clinic in Kyalami, where Dr.’s Mike and Eilmien York did a cesarean on her. While Miley was in theatre, little Mika was safe with Tracy waiting for her mom to return.

Mika waiting while Miley was in surgery

Eventually after what felt like ages for us at the office and our Facebook supporters, we received news that Miley was fine! But, there was some bad news…the puppy that was inside her womb had died. The labour had stopped because the puppy had got stuck. We think – due to Miley’s petite frame, and she was probably mated with by a larger male dog causing the babies to grow too large to be delivered.

Miley recovering at home with Mika

After many hours and thousands of prayers, thoughts and good energies sent to Miley, she returned to Tracy’s home as a foster to recover from her operation. The vets had sterilised her at the same time, so she won’t have to go through this trauma again.

She is a very strong little girl and we are so proud of her for pulling through this ordeal. She is an amazing mom to Mika; doting on her every second.

Thank you so much to all our incredible supporters who followed our posts and supported this very special girl! ♥ Without you, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do! THANK YOU!!!! ♥ xXx

Keep watching our Facebook and Twitter pages as well as our blog for updates on Miley and Mika.

Miley and Mika, mother and daughter bonding

—- And most importantly —-

PLEASE STERILISE YOUR PETS and STOP UNWANTED ANIMALS and UNNECESSARY SUFFERING!

The Modern Day Businessman

Posted on May 18, 2012 by arkanimalcentre

As we are sure everyone can see, the world is becoming more aware of animal rights and have opinions on how they should be treated. Slowly but surely animals are been seen as living creatures with feelings and souls and not just objects.

We came across this picture – a man in a business suit walking his dog to work….but instead of a lead he uses the strap of the laptop bag to do the walking! We thought this pictures shows just how much people are becoming aware that animals, especially dogs in this instance, are your family and you should treat them as such.

After some research, we found out that the man in the picture is Michael Eilertsen, CEO of a luxury millionaires magazine and events company called LIVEOUTLOUD. He is an animal lover and decided that his dog, a Beagle called Bark, is going to accompany him to work everyday. So much so, that when the offices moved…everything hinged on whether or not Bark could come with. Mike says that the whole office loves Bark, and that he has become part of the family. “He even joins us in boardroom meetings, sitting on a chair as if he were giving his opinion on the subject!”

We hope this picture makes you smile as much as we did! This fits the term – Bring your dog to work – 21st Century Style! 🙂

History’s Famous Dog’s Official Blog

Posted on May 16, 2012 by arkanimalcentre

Due to the huge popularity of our HISTORY’S FAMOUS DOG’s we have decided to add a dedicated page to our blog for all you history fans 🙂

It will be a permanent fixture which will be updated with the new famous dogs from Facebook. ♥

Here is the link: https://arkanimalcentre.wordpress.com/historys-famous-dogs/

We hope you enjoy it!!

Why you should neuter your male dog and cat

Posted on May 15, 2012 by arkanimalcentre

THE ADVANTAGES OF NEUTERING MALE DOGS & CATS

DOGS:
– Has no effect on the dog’s alertness or natural protective instincts.
– Minimises sexual and territorial aggression.
– Reduces hyperactivity and the dog becomes more relaxed in its home environment.
– Lowers the dog’s general activity level (advantageous with certain breeds such as Boxers).
– The dog becomes more affectionate with the owners, children and other pets.
– Minimises or eliminates bad habits such as jumping over fences, chasing of cars, urinating in the house, etc.
– Minimises the likelihood of having prostate problems.

CATS:
– Neutered cats become more affectionate and less inclined to wander off their territories.
– Neutering reduces and even eliminates spraying altogether.
– Reduces and even eliminates “cat choruses” which are usually caused by unneutered males challenging each other for females “in season” or for territory (i.e. minimises sexual and territorial aggression).

DOGS AND CATS:
– Stops straying when females “in season” are in the neighbourhood and also reduces the possibility of the male getting into fights or being run over by a motor vehicle – which can prove to be costly in terms of veterinary fees.
– Prevents mating with females “in season” in the neighbourhood.
– Minimises or eliminates the possibility of the male contracting sexually trans¬mitted diseases.
– Reduces the possibility of the male developing tumours in the anus.
– Results can be expected to show within six weeks to three months of the operation.

A MALE CAN FERTILISE MORE FEMALES IN A YEAR THAN A FEMALE CAN HAVE LITTERS IN HER LIFETIME.

One female dog and her offspring, in 6 years, can be responsible for the birth of 67,000 dogs!!
One female cat and her offspring, in 7 years, can be responsible for the birth of 420,000 cats!!
Every sterilized cat or dog stops many unwanted babies and makes a huge difference.