Canelo Released from Vet

Canelo had pneumonia after all. He was released last week and is doing well. He went to a foster home that has two other little dogs. This is what she wrote me today:

The continuing good news is that Canelo is doing fabulously. He is now accustomed to our routine -- even down to the "I must sit like the other 2 before I can have a treat/before I can go through the door/before I eat etc etc" -- you can see him observing my 2 and learning by the day. After a few early intro jitters, Canelo walks with my other 2; it's pretty entertaining to watch -- they walk 3-across in order of height/color (i.e., Canelo in the middle) and look like the tough-guy posse they think they are. Curious but friendly with other dogs and people, big or small. No food issues at all - I touch/move his bowls while he's eating and no reaction...just keeps eating as best he can. And he loves cuddles - from me, my boys and strangers. Oh, most importantly, he has this adorable buck-tooth that sticks out when he tries to close his mouth! Canelo is going to be a great adoption for some lucky family.

Little Canelo is very sick! He's bordering on pneumonia and has been admitted to the hospital. He's hooked up to IVs and will be receiving nebulizer treatments. The poor little boy will be hospitalized for 5 to 7 days.

As many of you know, Critters in Need rescued Canelo from the Carson shelter yesterday. The little fellow is pitifully thin--beyond emaciated. He had dropped a significant amount of weight while at the shelter and could not shake the kennel cough he had picked up there.

I rushed him to my vet in Garden Grove yesterday, where we did a full body x-ray, blood work, urine and a fecal. The lungs are in pretty bad shape and his white count is high.

This is the same vet who saved our little parvo puppy, Nike, and a lab critically ill with pneumonia (also from Carson) last year, so he's in good hands. The thing I'm concerned about most is Canelo's emotional state. He got into this serious health crisis because the family that he loved dumped him at the shelter. He became very depressed and ate very little.

I've let the vet staff know that this little sweetheart needs TLC in order to get well, too. And Canelo is such a doll! He gave me lots of kisses while we were at the vet yesterday--I'm sure he was so grateful to be out of the noisy, cold, scary shelter. I hated to leave him at the vet--I just wanted to keep holding him--but I knew he had to stay there in order to get well.

Here's a video I took while we were waiting for the vet:


But getting him well also means a hefty vet bill--about $1,000. Please help this sick little boy by donating for his vet care. Any amount, large or small, will be greatly appreciated.

You can send donations via Paypal by going to our website:
http://crittersrescueonline.org/

Thank you all so much!

Canelo Rescued from Carson Shelter!

Canelo was dumped by his family in February at the Carson shelter. They held him in their arms while waiting in the lobby to give him up. Canelo was so scared that he began drooling uncontrollably, but did this give them pause? No. They left him there.
Canelo was so depressed at being in the shelter that he couldn't eat. Already skinny, he dropped even more weight. He then got kennel cough. The shelter put him on meds, but the little boy couldn't shake it. He just kept coughing and coughing.

The shelter vet put in his notes that if he didn't get out of the shelter soon, he'd die there. A volunteer kept putting blankets in his kennel to keep him warm--those cement floors can be awfully cold--but for some reason, the shelter kept taking away his blankets. And that's when we stepped in.

I rushed up to the Carson shelter today to rescue this little boy. And what a sweetheart he is, too! He's a quiet little boy--and affectionate too. He showered me with kisses. And he was so grateful to be out of that noisy, scary shelter.

I rushed Canelo immediately to my vet. The poor baby only weighs about 8 lbs. We're doing blood work, full body x-rays, urine and a fecal test--about $300 worth of services so far. We need to find out what's wrong with him. Let's just hope it's not pneumonia! Right now he has to stay at the vet until he can be more fully assessed. We have someone who has offered to foster this little boy. I can't wait until he can go to his foster and get fattened up!

If you wish to donate for little Canelo's vet bills, please go to our website and click on our Paypal link.

http://crittersrescueonline.org/

Nike aka Piper

Well, little Nike/Piper is doing well, as you can see from these photos. She is so adorable and most importantly, very healthy!

As some of you may remember, she came to our rescue group as a very sick 5 lb. puppy. And now look at her! If you'd like to see how she looked when we first rescued her and read about her recovery, check out our August archives.

Here's her mom's latest update on our little one:
Hi all,

Just wanted to let you know that Piper graduated from Puppy Class last Saturday, so she officially knows stuff.

I'm attaching two new pics of her ... one in the backyard showing off her long legs and the other in her yellow slicker.

Piper HATES the rain and pretty much refuses to go out in it. The slicker helps, but we may be getting boots too...

Happy holidays!

Nike Pupdate

Nike is doing well! Her new mom (her former foster) renamed her Piper.

Remember that Nike, er Piper, was about 4 lbs. when we got her? Well, now she's 19 lbs., and as her mom says, "still pick-up-able, but oof!"

I've included her current photo--all happy and healthy--and also one of the photos of her when we first got her as a very sick 5-week-old parvo puppy.

Thanks to your donations, we were able to get Nike the care that she needed--and now look at her!

Here's what her mom has to say:

Piper's working on losing the last of her baby teeth. She's currently got 7 canines, down from 8 a few days ago. The adult teeth are delightfully dull in comparison to the ones they're replacing!

She's been going to doggy daycare for a few hours at a time a few times a week and it's really helping her come out of her shell with other dogs. She's played with a Boston Terrier named Frankie there a couple of times. She even made friends with a big, friendly Akita up the street last week; they were licking noses.

Her favorite dog is still Whimsy, the English Mastiff in her puppy class. She was beside herself with excitement when she saw Whimsy walk in the door last Saturday. Watching her jump all over Whimsy (Whimsy pretty much lays down and lets her go to town) was hilarious.

At one point Whimsy just reached out her paw and pinned Piper with the weight of it. Too cute!

Her training is going really well. There were only two of us at class last week, so the trainer worked with us one on one with calling them to us. Piper was so good. She'd run right past people trying to distract her and sit for me.

I've been working on "down" with her (for lay down) for the past two days and she's totally got it. I told her "down" when I took her out earlier today and she leaped into position. I'm super impressed with her!

We may need to work on more difficult stuff. We're also working on walking without pulling and not jumping on people (that may be the more difficult stuff). For some reason the first time I asked her to "heel" she did as if she'd learned it.

Pup-date!

Do you remember Nike the parvo pup? Well, here's a BEFORE picture (5 weeks old and sick with parvo) ...

Check out her AFTER photo! Nike is healthy, happy and quite the imp! And I just love this new photo that her mom sent us. Nike (now known as Piper) is definitely full of personality. What an imp! :-)

Nike was one of the lucky ones. She survived parvo and was recently adopted by her foster. She's doing well and is now enrolled in a PetSmart puppy class.

Thank you all for donating for her care while she recovered. It surely made it possible to save her life.

Please donate to Critters in Need Pet Rescue so we can rescue more needy puppies like Nike.

Here's an update from her mom:

Just thought I'd send you an update on Piper (f/k/a) Nike. We joined a puppy class at Petsmart last Saturday. We're working on her interactions with other dogs (amongst other things like "Stay" and "Leave It"). Everyone was really impressed by the positive change in her this week.

She spent quite a while jumping on one of the other puppies this morning (an English Mastiff named Whimsy who weighs almost as much as me) - her other favorite in the class is a corgie puppy named Penny.

Happy Tails for Duke!

Duke is one of these dogs that I just fell for the minute I saw him.

I fell for him, not only because he's a beautiful dog, but also because he's such a love bug. He really is one of the most loving dogs I've ever met.

Since I was the one transporting him from the kennel to our adoption events, this was our opportunity to bond. I'd pet him and rub his ears, and he'd sigh with happiness.

A family decided to foster-to-adopt Duke to make sure that he was going to get along with their cats. Well, he quickly became part of their family, so we did the official adoption yesterday.

When I came over to the house, Duke came over and sniffed me. It took him a few seconds, but then he recognized me and was as happy to see me and I was to see him.

Duke is doing well. He's put on weight, his coat is getting shinier and he is just so happy. He's part of a family and he's thriving, as evidenced by the photo above.

When I said goodbye, I had tears in my eyes--yes, out of happiness, but also because I was really going to miss Duke.

It's such a scary thought that if Critters in Need Pet Rescue hadn't rescued him from the shelter, he'd be dead. You see, we got him on his last day.

There are too many dogs out there that we can't save and rescue work can be disheartening. But it's happy endings like this that makes rescue worthwhile.