The Tragic Shepherd

We rescued two shepherd mixes from a high-kill shelter that were on death row yesterday afternoon. The shelter told no one that one of the dogs was very sick. Amazing that they didn't notice his very labored breathing (watch the videos I took this morning and you too will wonder how they missed it).
The poor boy. I rushed him to my vet this morning. He was really struggling. Breathing was difficult. He'd walk a little bit, but then he'd give up and lie back down again.

My vet said his tongue was blue and that he would need oxygen right away. Also, the dog would need the usual blood and urine tests and x-rays. Naturally, he would have needed to be hospitalized. There were lesions (I think that's the word they used) on the tongue and eyelid.

But the vet said that he could tell by the way he was breathing that he had partial laryngeal paralysis. (And likely pneumonia, even a possibility of cancer.) They couldn't even find out the extent of the paralysis because he'd have to be sedated, which was not possible in his current condition. Basically they said that his prognosis was so guarded, coupled with the fact that the laryngeal paralysis could only be managed for a time before he would suffocate ... the vet said that there really wasn't much of a choice but to put him down.

I cried buckets and went through almost a whole box of Kleenex. I petted him for almost 45 minutes, telling him what a good boy he was. It was so awful. I wanted to save him so much. You could tell he had been a pretty dog when he was young. I rubbed his ears a lot and talked to him. I told him I loved him.

I couldn't stay in the room with him when they did it ... I was already a basket case, so they took him in the back. When they opened the door to take him into the back, he got up and walked through the door.

But at least he got another day with his sister, the dog he came in with. He wasn't at that horrible shelter in an outside run with no bedding to keep him warm. He slept on blankets last night and spent some time in the sun this morning. But I'm still devastated. I really wanted to save him. I'm crying as I write this.

I had called the shelter on the way to the vet to find out what I could about him. Turns out that the dogs' owner had died and the next-of-kin didn't want them, so they dumped the dogs at the shelter. Nice.

This shelter does not have a vet on staff like many shelters do. A vet does a visual exam of the dogs at intake, I was told on the phone. If all seems well, the dog does not get looked at again by a vet unless it stops eating and drinking. This poor boy did not receive any medications while he was at the shelter. He arrived on the 7th and exited on the 23rd.

I called the shelter again to see if they could tell me the other dog's name or if there was a way to get the rabies info (both dogs had their rabies shots in Dec. 2010), but seems the family didn't bother to supply any of that.

We'll need to vet the other dog soon. She has diarrhea, but we don't see anything that requires immediate vetting.

Compare his intake photo taken on March 7 to the photo and videos taken today. What a change.

A Tragic Story

This is the true story of two brave momma dogs named Skylar and Snowy. Skylar had 10 puppies and Snowy had 9 puppies.

Both mommies and their babies were imprisoned at the Devore shelter and were slated to die. A nice lady named Kym couldn't bear to see this happen, so she rescued them and took them in.

Both mommies took such good care of their babies ... feeding them, cleaning them and giving them lots of love.

Suddenly, distemper reared its ugly head.

Now both Skylar and Snowy are dead. Tragically, all of Snowy's puppies are dead and only two of Skylar's puppies are still alive.

One of Skylar's puppies, Batman, is at the vet right now, fighting to survive. (Hope is the only puppy who is doing well.)

Vet bills are now up to $9,200! We need your help to continue in the fight to save Batman. (See his photo at left. The second photo shows him with his sister, Fozzy Bear, who died this week because her trachea was too small and she couldn't breathe. (Watch her video.)

You can help by donating to Critters in Need Pet Rescue via Paypal

Traditional veterinary treatment for distemper was tried, as well as a cutting edge distemper serum. Nothing helped.

The puppies kept dying. Two died on Christmas Day. It seemed that a day didn't go by when there wasn't bad news.

It all started when suddenly, one of Skylar's puppies, Galileo, stopped eating. (Watch the video of Skylar and Galileo.)

Galileo died, despite blood transfusions and being in an incubator. And his mommy, Skylar, died on the operating table while undergoing an emergency hysterectomy.

The other puppies began to get sick ... and one of them tested positive for distemper.

Snowy got pneumonia. We discovered that she had been shot with a BB gun and had over 20 pellets in her soft tissue! (You can see some of the pellets in the x-ray.)

Snowy was hospitalized but sadly, never responded to treatment. Her condition continued to deteriorate.

I visited her at the vet and took her on a little walk to see if that would help her feel better. I was shocked to see how thin she was. You can compare the photos for yourself and you'll see the change in poor Snowy.

I petted her and gave her kisses. And it hurt to see her walk so slowly ... but at least Snowy got to stand in the sun and feel the dirt beneath her paws one last time. (Watch her video.)

Poor Snowy collapsed the next day. The vets tried to revive her, but she died.

And then more and more of Skylar's and Snowy's puppies died.

This has been a tragedy. Please help in this fight to save Batman. Please donate to Critters in Need Pet Rescue. You can donate via Paypal.