Every day, dozens of dogs die in overcrowded shelters in less than a 5-hour radius to the Bay Area. These include purebreeds and little dogs, dogs that you wouldn't normally think would have a problem being adopted. But the reality is that especially in rural areas, dogs come into the shelters at an alarming rate yet there are rarely any adopters at all.
For most of these dogs, their only chance of survival is to be transported to more populated areas, where there are more potential adopters. Yet who does the transporting?
This past Saturday, a dedicated group of volunteers, people just like you and me, who have full-time jobs and families of their own and I'm sure a hundred other things they could spend their time doing, worked together to save over 30 dogs. Under the organization of one amazing coordinator named Jennie, 3 transporters split the drive between Bakersfield to Santa Rosa, over a 9-hour route. They picked up 3 dozen dogs from 5 different shelters and transported them to 4 cities where over a dozen rescues were waiting with open arms.
One of those lucky dogs was A843504 from Kern County Shelter in Bakersfield.
He has since been knighted Maxwell. I drove 50 minutes to pick this little guy up at one of the drop-off points of the transport. I scooped him up in my arms and put him in the backseat of the car. He was a little nervous and unsure of me but within 2 minutes, he was ready for a cuddle. Within 10 minutes, he had chewed off the harness I just put on him.
"Who me?"
Yes, you, you little stinker. That harness held memories. It was the first harness I ever bought for Popeye.
"Oh. Sorry."
You're not getting off so easily, mister. It's bath torture for you.
Not by my hands though. Remember Crazy Lady & Sugar? They fostered Pip until he was adopted.
They had so much fun, they asked to do it again. So where was I? Oh yeah . . .
"Torture."
"Is it over yet?"
"Uncle."
Crazy Lady & Sugar will be putting him through his paces until a good home is found for him.
A few months ago, our mail carrier knocked on our door and told me about a stray dog she saw along her route, just a few blocks away. Out in the cold rain I went and back I came with Pip, a little long-haired chihuahua.
Today, the mail carrier knocked on our door again and told me about another stray she saw. I'm starting to get scared of answering the door when she knocks. This time, it was a pit who was following a woman and her dog. "Very calm and friendly." I never meet calm & friendly strays.
But I grabbed a leash and a small bag of dog treats and followed the mail carrier in my car to where she saw this dog. The dog, a black & white pit, was just hanging out with a woman and her dog. Not really interacting with them, just hanging out. She was indeed calm. The woman clearly didn't know what to do and was relieved that reinforcements arrived.
I was thrilled to see this dog had a tag. First sign that she wasn't dumped. The tag had the name "Cookie" in large bejeweled letters, and on the back, it had a crossed-out phone # and 2 teeny phone #s written with a sharpie that were barely legible. For you petowners out there, it's great that your dog has a tag and that anyone who might chance upon him will know his name, but really, that's about the least important information you can provide about the dog. Make sure the contact info is updated and readable because that's what may save his life.
Cookie wasn't uberfriendly like most pits are. She wasn't bouncy or tail bashing waggy, but she was mellow and well-socialized. She got into my car with just a little bit of enticement with treats, and I took her home and put her in the backyard, where I gave her a ton of water and a bit of food. I wasn't sure how long she had been wandering (she was covered in dry poop--obviously she rolled in something nasty just like Boomer likes to do).
I tried calling what I thought to be the number written on her tag but it was disconnected. I then brought out my microchip reader to see if she was chipped but of course she wasn't. Then I tried to call Animal Control to see if anyone had reported a lost dog but of course the local AC is closed on Fridays (and Mondays and Sundays).
All the while I was making plans in my mind about everything I'd have to do if no one claimed her. She was well-behaved, knew "sit" at least, and she quietly followed me around the yard while sniffing everything she could. She was so mellow, I thought for sure she was an older dog.
If she was going to stay, I'd have to introduce her to the dogs sometime. She seemed fine with the woman's dog she followed so I wasn't too too nervous about introducing her to Phoebe at least. Phoebe gets along with everyone. But I had the penny shaker in hand just in case something bad happened.
I need not have had the slightest qualms. Cookie, calm and self-contained up until now, absolutely lit up the moment she saw Phoebe. Their powerful tails almost seemed synchronized as they swooshed their tails as hard and as fast as they physically could.
In the meantime, I began to change the digits in the phone # I originally called. The 5 could've been an 8, the 4 could've been a 9. I called 3 more numbers, left 2 voicemails, and got another disconnected line. The first person to call me back said she didn't have a dog. But the second person immediately asked, "You have Cookie?" Bingo!
Cookie had been spotted with another dog. But the other dog was skittish with strangers and took off. Turns out these dogs jumped the fence this morning. The other dog returned home, so maybe Cookie would've gotten safely home as well without our interference. But I'm glad I got involved anyway.
I dropped Cookie, with Phoebe tagging along, off at her house about a mile away. She went back to being the calm lady. I had a nice chat with her Dad, who told me that he himself had found Cookie wandering the streets with nothing but a harness just a couple of months ago. Despite putting up flyers and reporting a found dog with AC, nobody claimed her so he just adopted her. I made sure to suggest getting a new tag.
I'm glad this story had a happy ending and that I was a part of it. It was a pleasure hanging out with Cookie and I already have a soft spot for her. And on my drive back home with Phoebe, I passed this:
It always gives me a good blissful feeling to know that people really love their dog.
5 urinalyses later (the first 2 were positive, the last 3 were negative) and Popeye is finally officially declared UTI free. Of course we'll still get him tested every few months since his incontinence and immunosuppressent drugs make him more susceptible, but we must be doing something right. And we have been doing a lot:
- expressing him more often throughout the day (6-7 times/day) - adding lots of water to his raw diet. He rarely drinks from the water bowl so this way we make sure he gets plenty of H20. - supplementing with d-mannose daily - adding apple cider vinegar to his meal daily - supplementing with Tract-Ease Herbal Formula - supplementing with Cranberry Wellness Pet Supplement periodically
Yes, this is probably overkill but that's the way I tend to roll. I also check the pH level of his urine with pH strips almost every morning and night to make sure the levels are consistent. I would do it more often but it's not easy expressing a 2-legged dog while trying to hold something in his urine stream. Although I probably could just put the strip on my shoe as his pee often lands there.
pH levels normally change throughout the day, so they may read high during 1 test but normal during another test. For this reason, any single test is pointless; it's the general trend that matters.
For Popeye, his pH tends to be in the 8 (high-alkaline) range right before bed but 6-7 (normal) in the morning. If this changes on a regular basis, it might be time to get him rechecked at the vet. But hopefully that won't be for a long long time.
We are busy busy bees right now, so here are some quick updates:
Sassy had her surgery to remove her spleen, which had a large tumor attached to it. The whole thing weighed almost 10 lbs! She is recovering nicely from the surgery now. The biopsy determined that the tumor wasn't quite cancer per se, but something called fibrohistiocytic nodules. The nodules range from benign (stage 1) to malignant (stage 2). Sassy has stage 2 and 3-5 chemotherapy sessions of doxorubicin intravenously administered are recommended to help minimize the risk that they become malignant in the future. Sassy's surgery cost over $2500 and the chemo will be extra. This is the main reason I am such a busy bee right now as I've taken on new work to help pay for this.
Pip survived getting snipped (ie. neutered) and has been adopted. He shares his new home with 2 boxers and a fellow 5lb chi.
Isis' brother, Otis is entered in the Bissell Pet Photo Contest. Every week, the 5 photos with the most votes advance to the finalist stage. After 13 weeks, a Bissell panel of judges will select the top winners among the finalists. Finalists and winners get a whole bunch of goodies, including spending money and Bissell products. The winning pet gets his/her photo on a Bissell package, and top winners get a grant to donate to their favorite charity.
Sassy is a senior dog who was surrendered to Lake County animal shelter last year. For 11 years, she lived with a family who fostered children on a regular basis. She slept with a cat every night. Then her human parents got a divorce, had to move, and decided they couldn't keep her anymore. Sassy was so sad at the shelter.
Then an awesome woman named Wendy offered to foster Sassy for our rescue, even knowing that there was a distinct possibility that Sassy wouldn't ever be adopted due to her age. We visited Sassy back in June and were thrilled to see her so happy and loved and still as sweet as ever.
This past Sunday Wendy told me that Sassy coughed up a tiny bit of blood and that her belly felt swollen. Worried about the possibility of bloat, a life-threatening emergency, it was decided that Sassy be taken to the vet immediately. Eventually an ultrasound was taken and it was discovered that Sassy had a massive tumor on her spleen, so enlarged that it was pressing up against her kidney and liver.
Tumors on the spleen can't really be accurately diagnosed as benign or malignant unless the entire spleen is removed and biopsied. Dogs don't really need their spleen so its removal doesn't really affect much. Unfortunately, the surgery is costly, around $2000-$3000. If the tumor is benign, the removal of the spleen solves the problem and the dog can resume her normal life. If the tumor is malignant (ie. hemangiosarcoma, one of the most aggressive types of cancer), the removal of the spleen buys the dog about 2-3 more months before the cancer attaches itself to another, more vital organ. Even with chemo, the prognosis is generally only about 6 additional months.
Samson, one of my 2 first dogs, a german shepherd, had hemangiosarcoma. His spleen was removed and brought him back to his normal self for 3 months. I will always cherish those extra 3 months that we were able to share with him.
After discussing it with 3 different vets, we decided to go ahead with the surgery for Sassy.
Not every vet is comfortable with performing a splenectomy, and Sassy's vet was one of them. Based on the recommendation of a trusted acquaintance and creator of DogAware.com (a site with tons of practical information on dog diet and health issues--we often refer new adopters to the site to assist them with selecting a good quality dog food), I called Oak Tree Vet in Danville. I was told that they could perform the surgery and to have Wendy bring Sassy in right away because of the risk of the tumor rupturing.
Tumors on spleens have generally come out 50/50 benign vs malignant. The doctor explained that the fact that Sassy's tumor has gotten so large (it must have been growing for a long time) without any other symptom of something being wrong (until very recently, there hasn't been any change in her personality) is actually a positive sign that it may be benign.
As I write this, Dr. Arnott and his staff are trying to clear his schedule for the rest of the day so that the surgery can be performed asap. I'm pleasantly surprised and very much gratified at the care everyone there has already shown to Sassy.
Sassy will have her surgery either this afternoon/evening or first thing tomorrow morning. We wish her & Wendy the best. Send them as many good vibes as you can.
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