spaying, shots, etc

lily went to the lifeline animal project spay/neuter clinic today to be spayed. she got all her shots and was microchipped as well. she did really well and her incision looks fantastic!! if i didn't know she had had surgery, i would have never guessed as she isn't acting like she just had major surgery.

Dogs at the lake

As Myra mentioned, over the last three or four days, Lily has been transformed. No longer does she just lay on the bed sleeping 99% of the time and hacking and coughing the remainder. She's active and playful and hungry. She looks infinitely better. Her rib and hip bones seem to protrude less -- we both think she looks like she's put on a little bit of weight. Her coat is smoother and shinier. It's great to see her this way!

We took our dog family to Lake Lanier yesterday. Amos and Calvin love going to the lake, but this was Lily's first trip. At first she didn't understand what was going on when we were loading up the car. When I tried to get her to come into the garage to get in the back of the Escape, Lily barked with excitement for the first time! Pretty incredible that we have had her for more than two weeks and hadn't heard her bark until then.

Turns out she loved being at the lake as much as the other two dogs did. She didn't have the swimming thing down -- I think she was a little nervous of deep water -- but waded into the lake many times to fetch and play. She was very well behaved off the leash too. She never wandered away too far. She kept looking around to make sure that Amos and Calvin were nearby. We do need to work on her begging for people food. She's a big mooch and kind of loses control when she sees that a burger or sandwich is within reach.

a different dog

since starting on the new antibiotics, lily has become a new dog!! she has her appetite back and is eating and wants to play some. she isn't coughing as much and her nose and eyes are looking much clearer!! i think she will be okay. :-)

Some pics

Here are some pics of Lily taken on her first weekend with us:

http://picasaweb.google.com/loganvillerescue/Lily#

First Thoughts on Seeing Lily

Ed here. When I came home that night and saw Lily in the bathtub, I didn't quite know what to think. We had talked about fostering another dog in the future but I wasn't expecting one so soon. Once she was out of the tub, I could see that Lily definitely needed help.

The first thing you notice about Lily is how skinny she is. On second thought, "skinny" isn't the right word. "Skeletal" would be a better choice. She is severely underweight. You can see all her ribs, every bump on her spine and her hip bones. When you pet her or pick her up, she feels just like a collection of bones in a bag made of skin. I don't want to think of how long she's been starving to get that way.

There are other signs that she's had a hard life -- some small scars on her face and head, a skin infection which has left her skin dry and flakey and her coat like straw, worms (which we found after the first vet visit), fleas and one particular huge tick.

Seeing her broke my heart. I knew that this dog desperately needed our help. It would be a long road to recovery for her but we would do all we could for her.

back to the vet...

i've been thinking we needed to take lily back to the vet, but ed thought we should wait a little bit and let the antibiotics kick in. when she stopped eating last night, he decided we should call this morning.

they told me to bring her in at 9:15. she was such a good girl again! they drew blood and gave her subcutaneous fluids, but lily didn't even flinch. her white cell count was high, indicating an infection, but everything else looked good. so, her internal organs are working and all of that is okay. she doesn't have parvo, either, which is really good!

the vet gave me an additional antibiotic to give to lily - this one should help the respiratory problems she is having. when i got her home, she looked a little better. i gave her some food and her pills and she kept it all down! she even wanted to eat which is a small miracle in itself!

myra

we need a name

we finally decided to name the new dog lily. we named her just in time as she had to go to the vet. she has been coughing and vomiting so we decided to go ahead and take her in.

lily weighed 37.3 lbs. she's about 15 pounds underweight. her skin is flaky and her hair is so dry!! the vet said she has a skin infection and gave us antibiotics to help clear it up. she also gave us a wormer since lily has every parasite a dog can have. luckily, she does not have heartworm!

lily did GREAT at the vet! she didn't bark or cry or anything. what a good dog!! :-)

myra

finding lily

i found new dog on wednesday, september 10th on my way home from work. she was standing by the side of the road looking scared, hungry and all alone. when i stopped to pick her up, she cringed away from me, shaking all over. i picked her up and put her in the back of the escape, all the while knowing i was doing the right thing, but wondering what the consequences would be.

when i got home, i let our other dogs outside, changed clothes and got new dog out of the car and into the bathtub. as soon as the water hit her, it turned orange from the clay mud that was all over her. as i lathered her up with shampoo, i realized that there wasn't an ounce of fat anywhere on her. she was, quite literally, skin and bones - a skeleton of a dog. all i could do at that point was cry for this poor dog and apologize to her for what someone had done to her.

as the water washed away the dirt, grime and fleas, i could feel the fear, anxiety and nervousness washing away as well. i think for the first time, new dog understood that she was safe - no one was going to hurt her, use her or allow her to suffer anymore. by the time her bath was over, it was new dog who has comforting me with soft, gentle licks on my cheek to stop the flow of tears.

myra