Saturday, June 30, 2018

WELCOME MATILDA

 Matilda was a stray at a shelter near me.   I emailed them, but it looked like she had been adopted.
 She had been.  But, they got her home, shaved off a lot of her hair (cutting her in the process) and they ended up returning her to the shelter.  Good thing!
 She is a small one-- only 9 pounds!   All we know is she is 8+.   She has a little gray, but it's really hard to tell how old she is. 
 My Granddaughter, Bitty Bit the Viking, helped me.   Matilda adored her.
 It was mutual.
 Sugar Bit took a lot of pictures for me of Matilda!
 I went through all my harnesses and collars and found a tiny harness.  It fit!  But, no collars small enough.  So, we bought her a new one with a matching leash that match the harness I had.
 And then off we went to the ophthalmologist.  They had an opening yesterday, so I snatched it up!
 She wanted to check things out.   The ophthalmologist said Matilda has very little vision.   BUT, she is a candidate for cataract surgery, so we are going to try to raise money.  We need $2500 for both eyes.   I think that's a great price. 
 We came home and my guys met her.  (I isolated her at the vet for a few days to make sure she was okay and would not be a threat health wise to the Sisters.)
 You can see her cataracts in this picture.  They are very dense.  I'd love for her to be able to see.
 You can see my groomer did a wonderful job cleaning up the bad haircut she had.   Her hair will grow back, but she is very cool right now.
 "Want to come inside?"  You can see how small Matilda is.  I have the best crew of dogs here.  They are all accepting and kind with the new ones.   Kai Kai was over to the side.  Matilda has obviously been blind for awhile, but she hears well and follows my voice.
At the end of the day, she curled up beside me on the couch and fell sound asleep.  She loves people and wants to be near them.  Once she is medically clear, she will be available for adoption. 

Friday, June 29, 2018

FAREWELL CHLOE

 Chloe belonged to my friend Sarah. 
 Chloe took guarding the door very seriously.
 She even called in recruits-- Daisy helped, too.
 She lived with other Pekes, too-- Sam Sam was one of them.   Her mom loves rescue dogs. 
 Chloe started to feel unwell yesterday and today she passed away.  She was diagnosed with ITP-- Immune Mediated Thrombocytopeania.   It can come on for no known reason and it is where the immune system in the body begins to attack itself.  The platelets drop dangerously low and bleeding, bruising and blood loss can occur. 
 For sweet Chloe, it came on fast and there was not much that he could be done.   Sarah's little princess was gone.
Chloe was only 12, but I'm sure Floyd and Starlight met her to show her the way.   
Run free now, sweet girl.  You were greatly loved.

ONE WORD.....

I asked you all for one word to describe your dog.  You are all wonderful!!   So many responded that I couldn't use all the pictures.  WOW!  I'll do another one using more pictures and descriptive words.   
 My Max is almost 15-- Mr.  GRUMPY
 My Kai Kai-- LOYAL
 My Floyd-- GENTLE  💗
 Our Pi-- NANNY
 Percy-- GRATEFUL
 Jasper-- KIND
 Allie Marie-- PROTECTIVE
 Koko-- HAPPY
 Andy-- SHY
 Buffy-- SWEETHEART  (She will let you do anything to her, she just makes herself limp and makes us carry her around. She can also be a little rascal and will stand off a pit bull because she thinks she owns the street!!!)
 Ollie-- BODYGUARD (who will not let my husband near me and walks in front of me wherever I go while looking back to be sure I’m there!! He is a mess but so loving and sweet!!! He is afraid of being left, has anxiety and afraid of storms but never leaves my side. Waits patiently for me to go to bed.  )
 Bernie-- BRAVE
 Pete-- Complicated
Poncho--GUARDER
Smokey--Sweet Boy
Dash-- Sweet
And last (today-- there will be more blogs on this) is Lucy Lu-- I love her word:  LIFESAFER!  It doesn't get better than that!

Wednesday, June 27, 2018

OLLIE-- I HATE STORMS!

 Ollie was my foster boy in 2006!  Wow, has it been that long!!
 He has a personality-- haha-- but he's also a snuggler.
 He can also be a chair stealer, along with his sister, Buffy! 
 But, he's not crazy about storms!  All that noise and racket is just awful.
 He tries to hide from that.   Poor guy!  His mom has tried all kinds of solutions, but she is trying a few more. 
I guess he was better though, because he went golfing with his dad.  I love his hat!   Golfing is much better than thunderstorms!

Tuesday, June 26, 2018

FAREWELL MY SWEET FLOYD

 Floyd came into rescue in October of 2015.  He was in awful shape.
 He had a broken pelvis (which we could not repair), he was deaf, his heart had a grade 5 heart murmur.  His mouth was a massive mess, and even though his heart was so bad, a dental was done.  He had to have a chance.   He lost 14 teeth and I know with all the care Lucinda and Roger gave him, he felt so much better.
 Floyd came to live with us and we weren't sure how long he would have-- but we were determined it would be good.  He followed me everywhere.   He could not do stairs, so if I went up, he would patiently wait for me to come down.
 He had the sweetest temperament.   One thing about Floyd that I will always remember-- we tripped over him more than all of the other dogs combined!   He somehow knew exactly where your foot would be, and managed to get there first.   You could turn around-- there he was!   You could start to walk, and he would be in front of you.  Amazing.  I said he had "foot radar."  We learned really good balance!
 Starlight thought Floyd was just fine. 
 Even though he was deaf, he still had one eye and could see fine.
 He loved to curl up on any bed available, but he did have favorite spots.
 By the Christmas tree was a good one.  He could see the twinkling lights.
 He welcomed the fosters who came.   BeeBee soon realized what a nice boy he was.
 Floyd loved to wander the perimeter of the yard-- the entire thing.   Across the yard, down the right side, follow the ivy down the slope to the other side, up the little hill, then turn around, and come back down, and back to the porch.    The last few weeks, he was unable to do that.
 When Dash was here, Floyd welcomed another sweet spirit. 
 He (and Kai Kai) went to a meeting at Fiona's with me.  Everyone loved meeting him.  And he was a perfect gentleman- he's one of the few fosters who have come to me who didn't have accidents. 
 He had a favorite place in the kitchen, near where I would be working.  He slept so soundly there.
 A year ago, we had done xrays and it showed his pelvic break was worse, and his right hip was disentegrating.   His back leg muscle mass was declining and his back legs had a hard time holding him up.  But, he continued on.   He was on heart meds and pain meds, and that helped a lot.
 The Sisters, Nala and BeeBee, Floyd and I went to the vet today. 
 We usually sit on the floor there and Dr. Meador joins us.  The Sisters sat near Floyd, as if they knew he was not doing well.
 The last two weeks, Floyd has had more trouble walking.  He has fallen more (while walking).   Floyd always slept by my feet, but he began to fall off the bed.   I put a toddler bed there, and a bed rail, but then he fell off the other side of the bed.   He began to cry a lot at night-- and it was breaking my heart.   Even on meds, he was not doing well.    (I never posted all this-- I don't post everything.)   His vision was almost gone, and since he was already deaf, it was so confusing.   Deaf and blind dogs can still do okay-- but pain, a very bad heart (grade 6 heart murmur, enlarged and a collapsing trachea) and loss of ability to walk well, made his life really hard.   I will fix what can be fixed, but we could not fix Floyd anymore.  We had done all we could.   More meds would have only drugged him, they would not have made the quality of his life better. 
 We gently held him and let him go.  What amazed me was that after he was gone, as we still sat on the floor, the Sisters went to sit closer to him.   I've never seen anything like it.  It's as if they were comforting him. 
I have Floyd's collar and will receive his ashes back in a few days.   His collar will join Starlight's, and the rest who have lived him.
I'm so glad Floyd shared his life with us-- he was old when we got him almost three years ago. (He looked young, but we knew he wasn't.)   We didn't expect him to live this long, but he had a strong determination to live and keep going.  He is now with Starlight and Lexie, and Scooterbug and Cranberry and Pi and so many others.   He is pain free, running at the bridge and seeing and hearing everything.   Run free now, sweet Floyd.  We love you. 💗

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