Puppy (Mika) celebrates her first x-mas in style

Update from adopters!

Anna, I just wanted to give you an update on our little princess. Im not sure if you received my previous update but she is doing ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL. She has grown so much over the last 4 weeks. She was at the vet last week for her check up and she now weighs 31 lbs! Can you believe it?! The girls at ACCT are so shocked every time we bring her by. She just sprouted up and got all this meat on her bones. The funny thing is, watching her get bigger and bigger every day shes looking more and more grey hound! Her mange is getting sooooo much better, her hair is growing in so thick and beautiful! She is such a spoiled good girl! Ive never met such a little lover girl! Again, attached to this email you will find some updated pics! Hope this makes you smile!

Puppy Found her Forever Home!

My little mangey puppy has found her forever home. She will be living with her two mommies in the suburbs with a large fenced in yard. She will be going on hikes, going to the beach, and getting spoiled like she deserves. By the time we were leaving, she was already looking at them for reassurance and giving lots of kisses. She almost fell asleep in their arms =)

They already have a name in mind but what to spend some time with her before making it final. I was promised lots of pictures and updates so I will be sure to share.

Puppy can't officially be adopted until she is spayed so the shelter transferred the foster care to them. Since they have already fostered cats for ACCT, they were already approved to take her home. They already had lots of toys for her and were planning a trip to petsmart to get her a nylabone and new collar.

Medical News: Puppy is taking .25 cc's of ivermectin, still getting the fortaflora in the AM. Her stools are completely normal. Her new nail growth isn't white from malnutrition. There is a straight line of new, healthy nail showing, from when she was surrendered to the shelter and finally fed. In the beginning, Puppy wasn't gaining much weight, despite being fed many small meals throughout the day. However, now that her skin infection has healed and her hair is growing in, her body can now use the food to gain weight instead of heal itself. In one week she went from a little over 19 lbs to….

Here is a slightly boring, but cute, video of Puppy on her last morning with me.
Last Morning Play Session    - not sure if the link will work or not, sorry.


ps. I had to make her collar bigger a few days ago. That was exciting.

Off to the next dog...

Total Transformation

Day 37

Puppy (official name) is a brand new dog. It was as if overnight her white hair grew in. This pretty lady is going to be white and brindle (I THINK the red brindle, not brown…but I am not quite sure yet). She is also weighing in at a little more than 19 lbs. I was told by a vet tech at ACCT that if she looks like she is still hungry, I can feed her more. So now I feed her 3x a day, 1 cup each meal. My 65 lb dog gets fed 1 cup 2x a day. So that just shows how much this little girl needs to eat. Here are some pics of her pretty white coat. P.S. She also likes to take all of the toys out of the toy bin and bring them to the dog bed =)

You can see that she is still noticeably underweight but a big improvement than when she first came.

Puppy is definitely feeling better and although she still sleeps much of the day, she plays hard during play time. She doesn't appear weak and doesn't tire as easily during play time. We went to a dog park with my friend and her puppy, same age, and Puppy was a champ. She sprinted around with the other dogs, rough housed, and chased balls. On a side note, she has taken up the bad habit of growling when playing, just like my resident dog does. She also flipped many dogs over on their backs (even a 70 lb pup). I think she is definitely learning play skills from my dog and, when given the chance, wants to finally be in charge…unlike at home where she is definitely lower on the dog-totem pole. (ignore the people comments please)

No update about the cruelty charges.

Medical Update: She is finished with her cephalexin, which should help her stools, which are still not normal. She was dewormed again at the shelter. I was given FortaFlora (or something) which is a probiotic. I sprinkle that on her food once a day. Lindsay from the Chic Petique also gave us a new food. All of this has seemed to help. Fingers crossed. She is up to .2 cc's of ivermectin but after talking to a few people and my on-line research, she should be on more (the shelter is very conservative) so I will be increasing her amount slowly. Paws are no longer inflammed but still huge. I think she was meant to be a big dog (owner said he bought her as a mastiff). But, with her severe malnutrition, she won't ever grow as big as she was supposed to.


Puppy is ready to find her forever home. She won't be able to be officially adopted until she is spayed, which can't happen until her mange test comes back either negative or low-positive, which may be another few weeks. Ummmmm, she is also listed as "male" but I am sure she is a female.

http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/20666387

Puppy is an East Coast Traveler and other HUGE news!

New name (Chloe-owner's name to Puppy). New medicine. New food. New hair. New home. New family. New England. Yup, we went to Rhode Island for a few days, where I grew up, to visit my family. Puppy was a champ the entire time. Although I was prepared for some throw up on the long car ride, all Puppy did was sleep and try to snuggle with Maya (my dog).

The next video is Puppy meeting my mom and dad, as well as Betty (my former foster that my dad adopted a few years ago).  The energy and excitement that Puppy shows was so uplifting.

Next are just some pictures of Puppy playing with Betty and trying to play with Maya at the dog park. She followed Betty around everywhere and was putting on a show to try and get my dad to adopt her so she could stay with Betty (that was a no-go so she is still up for adoption).

Check out her new body frame. Not as skinny, although still really pathetic. She is definitely getting taller.

So while we were in Providence, Puppy went to Salon de Dad and got a medicated bath with a good scrubbing and her nails trimmed. She no longer has any crusties and her soft hair is quickly coming in. She is going to be white and brindle. I can't wait for the white on her nails to grow out, so another sign of neglect is gone forever.

Medical Update: Still on .20 CC's of Ivermectin and the antibiotic Cephalexin. She finished her round of Metronidozole but still doesn't have normal stool so I began adding pumpkin to her diet.

NOW FOR THE HUGE NEWS…
The man who surrendered Puppy brought in another adult female to animal control to surrender. This dog was, like my dog, very emaciated. Turns out that PSPCA looked into this guy in the winter time. With 2 more dogs as evidence (all pics I had to send to the agents), they will be pursuing criminal charges for neglect. So while his dogs (and I was told he has lots of puppies at his house) had to suffer, Karma is, hopefully, going to kick his butt. 

Day 19…becoming a puppy

So Puppy still sleeps ALL of the time. She enjoys curling up into little tiny balls or draping her big floppy feet over her head but her favorite sleep position is snuggling! 

Sometimes she just walks onto my lap and nuzzles her nose under my arm or other times she just plops her head on my leg, like the pic above. I like to poke her nose and play with her still-inflammed feet when she is sleeping because a) she is cute and b) it will acclimate her to a life of living with kids, should she be adopted by a family with young kids.

These are just some other pictures of her to show the improvements in her skin. Right now the only place that is crusty is her face but next bath time I will scrub that off.

This next picture is a favorite…she has hair growing in on her tail! It used to just look like a rat tail, but now you can see the little white sprouts =)

Now here is the best part…The times when Puppy is most alive is when I open the back door. She nips and licks at my dog, trying to get her to play. Maya won't play but I am going home to Rhode Island for a few days and my dad's dog (a former foster of mine) will def play with her. Of course I will take videos. So here is a little clip of Puppy doing something other than sleeping and giving herself time/energy to heal.

Medical Update: She took her last dose of Metronidozole, which was to combat diarrhea. Her stools are healthy now and hopefully they stay that way even after she is off the medicine. Her Ivermectin dose increased to 2 cc's, because of her weight gain (18.1 lbs!!).

Day 10 Pictures-Found my camera cord!

Found my camera cord, these are pictures and a VERY cute video of Puppy from Day 10.

Rufus, the tan dog, is a friend's foster dog whom I was babysitting for the week. He is also available for adoption…house-broken, crate trained, dog/cat/kid friendly, obedient:
More information about Rufus!


You can see that Puppy doesn't have nearly as much blood-crusties as she did when I brought her home. Right now, it is just on the sides of her face and her spine.

She followed Rufus and Maya around everywhere! It is so cute to watch her want to do everything they are doing. She is also at about an 80% success rate with "sit".

Below is a video that begins as any other video I do….me capturing nothing interesting, talking to myself/the dog/the camera.  But….I caught cuteness when I recorded a surprise conversation I had with my neighbor who is starting first grade in the fall.

Note: about halfway through, she asks "How about Friday?"….Friday was here 3-foster dogs ago. I had Friday, who was a small black pit and then when Friday was adopted I took another little black pit whom I named Tuna. My neighbor couldn't remember that they were two different dogs.  Then, after Tuna was adopted I "executed" a bite-case quarantine for a dog that was brought in by his owner, who stated that while the owner was on the ground with the dog, playing with it and, admittedly growling at it, the dog bit him on the face. "The dog?", you may ask… oh, it was just an 8 week old puppy. Yeah, seriously. So even though the owner said the puppy didn't break skin, nor does it even seem logical because puppies are MOUTHY, all dogs who have reportedly bitten legally have to go on a 10-day quarantine. This is the amount of time it takes for rabies symptoms to present themselves. So, because this dog (also referred to as "Puppy" in my house) was a bite-case, he was not allowed to be handled by anyone and was going to sit in his small cage at the shelter before he could even be evaluated for adoption. I had to sign some special paperwork, legal jumbo-mumbo, and agreed not to take Bite Case Puppy off my property, no one but me was allowed to touch him, and he was not to interact with any animals. Not surprisingly, Bite Case Puppy passed his evaluation once his bite hold was done,  transferred to a real foster home, and was quickly adopted by a family with kids. Blah blah blah, I say all this because my neighbor asks where Friday is when, in reality, she wasn't even the last dog that she has seen in my yard.

My Pretty Little Dinosaur

Day 10, August 4

Unfortunately, I have searched my ENTIRE home for the cord that connects my camera to my computer. It will turn up, but I don't want to withhold an update just because I don't have pictures.

Puppy (whom I sometimes call Jellybean, but name is still not official) is doing well. She still pretty much sleeps all of the time but when she is awake (eating, following me around, going outside for the bathroom), she seems to have more life in her. Her head isn't as droopy and she has a little more pep.

She has been dewormed again and is now taking Metronidozole, which is an anti-diareah medicine. She poops alot, aways outside, but has little piddles of pee inside. They are so small though, it is kind of cute.

She no longer has blood crusties all over her face, just a patch on the left side. She is just really flaky right now. I gave her the second bath; overbathing isn't good because the body's natural oil production is helpful.

She gets fed 3 times a day, total of 3 cups. I took her in to the clinic today and she only gained an ounce: 16.6 lbs. That is disappointing because she has been cared for very well since she has been here and I was hoping she had gained weight, so her ivermectin dose can increase for more mange-fighting power. Well, dosage remains the same at .16 cc's a day. It is believed that she hasn't gained weight because her body is using all of the nutrients/calories to fight off the infection and heal itself. It was recommended that I give her peanut butter, because it is high in calories and a "good" fat. I am also going to refer to Linsday from the Chic Petique for some advice on how to help her put on more weight.

Puppy has begun showing more interest in marrow bones that are laying around the house. She also had her first bully stick. She wasn't quite sure what to do with it but by watching Maya and Rufus (foster dog available for adoption) devour theirs, she soon caught on. She loves to snuggle and has gained enough strength to pull herself onto the couch without help so she has just been a couch potato. No more "invite-only" rule.

Oh- when I was leaving the shelter, three older women were going into the shelter. They stopped me, did the whole "ooh" and "ahh" thing. I told them her story and one of the ladies just kept saying "she's beautiful!" I am awed by the fact that people can see her beauty, despite her outward appearance.

I will post pics and videos as soon as I find my cord…I promise. She def looks better =)

ps. the pic here was taken today by my good friend, Stacey. You can see her face is no longer blood-crusty everywhere.

Days 2/3 "Mom, the sad dog is outside", says my 7 yr old neighbor

Days 2 and 3 were pretty much filled with the same activities: eating and sleeping.

Puppy is getting three small meals a day and she eats like there won't be food anymore. Nevertheless, she lets me put my hand in the bowl, stick my hands in her mouth, and take the bowl away while she is eating. So far, no food possession issues from this skinny minny.

When Puppy isn't eating, she is sleeping. I realized that she no longer wants to sleep with the panda. While I was sitting on the couch, she came over, sat on the ground near me, look up at me with her crusty, boogery eyes, and wagged her tail. Ugh, how could I resist.

So, I took two of the clean towels and covered the couch (and me). This is necessary because every time she moves her face, she gets crusty blood everywhere.

We had some snuggle time, of which I think she was appreciative. I am betting she wasn't shown this kind of love at her previous home. She is a good snuggler, except the blood crusties and disgusting mange smell (which you become accustomed to after a little while).

Now she tries to go onto the couch all the time, but she is only allowed up when she is invited. I showed her the "dog chair" and helped her get up there. Hopefully, she will learn that is the place to go unless invited onto the couch.

A 4 month old puppy should be much more active but because of her condition, she is exhausted and has no energy to actually be a puppy. Once her little body doesn't have to work so hard to help itself get healthy, she will be a silly puppy in no time =)

Some medical news: She still has intestinal worms, even after being dewormed at the shelter 3 days ago. They should have all been dead by now, but they are still alive. I'm not delving further into this. Just know that she is getting dewormed again tomorrow. Hopefully, the nutrients in the food will begin going to her instead of the worms. She is just a skeleton; it is quite sad watching her walk around with absolutely no muscle mass.

Day 1: Mange Puppy Comes Home

July 26, 2011.

I was walking through the lobby of the shelter where I volunteer (ACCT, Philly's only public intake shelter which takes in over 33,000 animals a year) and saw a pathetic looking thing sitting in a towel on a chair. The more pathetic they look, the harder it is to walk away. So, naturally, I stopped. Her paws are swollen from infection. Her nails are white from malnourishment. Her eyes are wide open because she is a cutie.

I talked with "Chloe's" owner, a young man and he said he brought her to a vet (on two different occasions after it didn't get better) and was able to describe what the meds looked like but didn't remember the names. He has two other dogs, he said neither of which have mange. He was slightly open to the offer for free spay surgeries for his two other resident dogs. Not sure why she is so skinny, although the owner seemed like he genuinely cared and said "I didn't know what else to do for her". So while he never should have let it get this far, I think it is, in this case, a lack of education about pet care/needs, rather than a case of deliberate animal cruelty. PS. The shelter is following up with him.

I stood by like an anxious mother waiting/hoping/fingers crossing that her skin scrape came back positive for Demodex mange (known, in the shelter world, as the "good kind") and not Sarcoptic mange (the kind that is contagious to other animals and people). I stood. I paced. I watched 4 other dogs be checked in that came in as strays. Every time the office door opened, I was hopeful it would be D with the results. FINALLY D came out and gave a thumbs up. It was the "good kind". I could take her home. 

D gave me a medicated shampoo for her and it was off to the the bath room. She was not overjoyed about being bathed but I imagine the cool water felt good on her hot, infected body. If you have ever fostered a mange puppy before, you know the first bath is usually the worst. They come out bleeding everywhere because all of the scabs that were washed off. Mange Puppy (whom I wanted to call Jellybean, but now I'm not sure) happily stood while I dried her off, the towel probably relieving the itch caused by mange. This is a picture of puppy after her bath. 

After "borrowing" lots of dye-free linens for her, waiting for her meds to be filled (she is taking LOTS of medications), and carrying her out to my car, I drove to the back of the parking lot where J was giving me free, donated dog food for foster parents and low-income residents. She made sure to give me food of the highest quality to ensure that this pup was getting THE BEST THERE WAS. No more crappy life for this little girl =)

She slept on the ride home and then we hung out in the backyard with my dog, Maya. Puppy flopped her inflamed paws around and tried to chase a tennis ball. Then she just sat, looked at me, and wagged her tail. You can see in this picture how excruciatingly underweight she is.

Puppy ate her dinner (Petra, you'll notice that is your dog bowl you gave me when I took Fuller and never gave you back), got her meds, and then I placed her on the dog bed for a nap…likely the first time this dog had been on a dog bed engulfed by a stuffed panda bear. After scratching (or itching?) her face, shaking, getting blood everywhere, she fell asleep, puppy twitches and sleep-barking included. 

After another bathroom break, she quietly went into her crate for bedtime. She has yet to bark. Fingers crossed it stays this way.

Although I know fostering older dogs is much easier than puppies, there is something so special about watching the transformation of a mange dog into a healthy dog. I hope to share this transformation with you. Enjoy.