~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am helping my neighbor adopt a Lhasa Apso from the local shelter in the city where I work. A co-worker saw her on Wednesday and emailed me about her. I went to see her at lunchtime and knew she needed a home. I couldn't take her, as my pack is just settling in with Mongo at 3 y/o and finally acting like an adult instead of an out of control, insecure, teenager. So I called my neighbor and said, "I've found a Lhasa Apso for you!" She wants one just like Sophie - but there is only ONE Sophie!
This Shelter has weird rules - purebred dogs cannot be released to the adopting person until AFTER they have been spayed/neutered. Oh, but that isn't REALLY true, because this Lhasa has surgery scheduled for Tuesday am, and a pre-op on Monday at 4pm. If the Vet said she was not physically able (health wise) to have surgery, THEN the Shelter would release her to the adopting person as long as they guaranteed that the dog would be spay/neutered.
How STUPID is THAT? :thumbdn:
This is Dolly on Wednesday afternoon at my office. (I conveniently just happened to have Sophie's collapsible crate still in my car.)
The Shelter had given their version of a bath to Dolly since my neighbor was coming to see her. She still smelled like urine and was all matted, but her eyes were clean and so were her ears that had been black and gunky.
Dolly was a physical disaster. She had been dropped off at the shelter on Aug 4th in the outside kennel. She was microchipped, so they called and found out her information. The owners live in the city and the phone still works and the Shelter left messages. No one ever called for Dolly. The creeps.
Dolly was filthy, eye boogers sticking out an inch from both eyes, one eye with yellow/green discharge, a poopy butt, nails an inch long, soaked with urine, mats all over her coat, congenital problems in her front legs (elbows bowing out). AND... when she walked, she wheezed and wheezed and huffed and puffed. I got my Case Peanut (with scissors) out of my purse and after I cleaned away the eye boogers and gunk, I cut away the hair that needed to be removed from around her eyes. Oh, dang. I mentioned a knife in Community. Do I get an infraction for that?
But guess what? She had the sweetest temperament I have EVER seen in a Lhasa Apso - and she is a very poorly bred one. The creeps had used her for breeding - who knows how many litters in her 4 years?
And in spite of all of her health issues and exterior physical condition, she was still happy and was wagging her tail. Who couldn't love a dog who is delighted to be here inspite of her recent environment?
I told the Shelter that I wanted to take her home and bath and groom her and I would bring her back in the morning if they insisted that she could not go home with my neighbor until after her Tuesday spay. When my neighbor came to the Shelter 2 hours later and said she would take her, the Shelter gals told me to take her home and have her back by Saturday at 2pm. Huh?
Oh, and on Saturday my neighbor could do the paperwork.
They let us walk out of there with this dog and all they had was a copy of my neighbor's DL and her home phone number.
I took her home with me, and bathed her and then started working on her mats at 8pm. I finished working on her at 3am - with breaks in between so Dolly could rest. She was finally clean and I had gotten 99.9% of the mats out of her, and she looked so much better. I treated her gunky eye with eye medication I have for my dog with KCS, and her eye was looking much better the next morning.
I took Dolly to work with me (again) and called the Vet's Office where she is to be seen on Monday afternoon. I said that she might have Kennel Cough or an upper respiratory infection, plus an issue with her eye. They got me in at 10am. Hot damn! How cool was THAT? :thumbup:
The Vet determined that she did not have Kennel Cough or an infection - temp was within range. Heart sounds good - no murmur. But she has some sort of respiratory allergy which was causing the wheezing and labored breathing. Got meds for that. Had a heartworm test and fecal float done (I went prepared!). Got the results today - both tests negative.
I had called the Shelter yesterday after the Vet exam and said that Dolly was sick and was prescribed Meds so could my neighbor keep her past Saturday and I would bring her in first thing Monday morning? NOPE, can't be done. Against the rules. Already violating the rules by letting us take her. She has to be returned Saturday by 2pm. No exceptions. Can't be done.
Yeah, bet me there will be no expections. They have never met TJ!!
So I drove to the Shelter this afternoon (after sneaking out of work early...hehehe. Okay, I called and left a message on my boss' answering machine because he was at school sites all day - I don't lie or sneak out - I just have to tell the truth).
As soon as I got to the Shelter, the gal who said my neighbor could NOT keep Dolly after Saturday told me that she talked to one of the Vet's, not the one who did the exam, and the Vet said that if Dolly's wheezing had not gotten better by her Monday pre-op, they would require a chest x-ray and she would not be able to be spayed on Tuesday. She then asked me if Dolly's breathing was better, and I told her no, she had just started the meds the day before and had only had 3 doses.
Then she says, "Okay, since she needs her medication, keep her over the weekend, but have her here Monday at 8am." What the heck?
Then I told her that I would have her there around 8am, and that regardless of whether she had surgery Tuesday, that I wanted to take her back after her pre-op so she could sleep at her new home. All I have to do now is get the okay from whoever takes her to the exam on Monday - I will be there for it.
I saw Dolly tonight. We re-named her "Wheezer" last night because she was just wheezing whenever she walked. She is no longer wheezing, but has some heavy panting, which is probably normal. She has been in a concrete kennel for 2 weeks with little to no exercise. She was such a happy girl tonight and almost 100% better than when I walked over to see her last night.
But she wasn't eating (to my neighbor's knowledge). So I took over an assortment of enticing kibble enhancers.... canned food, hard boiled egg, sliced turkey, and vanilla yogurt. She ate a small piece of turkey, but that isn't going to be her diet, but at least I knew she would eat.
Canned food and kibble? Nope. She tried to bury it.
HB egg and kibble? Nope, she tried to bury it.
Yogurt by itself? Yum Yum!!! She licked the bowl clean.
Yogurt and kibble (small amount)? She finished it off!
Yogurt and regular portion of kibble. GONE!!!! We have a winner.
I felt much better knowing that Wheezer would eat regular food, so I told my neighbor to give her 1/2 cup kibble with yogurt morning and night for now, because she needs the extra nurishment to help get her up and running.
They (neighor, Wheezer, and other dogs) walked me to the gate and I was walking across the wash to my house, and Wheezer wouldn't leave the gate. "Hey, where is that lady who gave me the really tasty food going?" She just watched and watched me leave.
I'll try and get a picture of her tomorrow showing how nice she looks after being bathed and groomed. She is such a sweetheart. My neighbor doesn't believe she is pure Lhasa, but I know she is - but it was a poor breeding. So my neighbor said, "She must have been a prototype Lhasa."
I thanked my neighbor for taking Wheezer into her home. I had asked her if she still wanted her with her health conditions, and she had replied, "Why wouldn't I? It's kind of like your saying 'Why do I have to get married? I didn't do anything wrong.' She didn't do anything wrong, so why shouldn't she get to go to a good home?"
I'm just picking up the bill for the adoption, the extra exam and test fees, rabies shot, and spay. And I said I would provide her kibble until her 12 year old senile Boxer female passes to The Bridge.
My neighbor will be providing all of the love. :thumbup:
