Elvis is back in Graceland!

We have such a wonderful story to tell; it happened a few weeks ago. A client of ours, Amanda, was driving down the road on Gordon Avenue in Albany. She saw what she thought was a white stuffed animal on the side of the road and decided to turn around and investigate. Turns out it was not stuffed; it was alive! A small white dog was stretched out on his side perfectly still in the tall grass. Amanda said the dog did not even move as she approached him. She reached down and picked him up and he never even seemed to be the least bit apprehensive; he never offered to bite or even shy at her hand or touch. It was as though help had finally arrived. She brought him to the clinic for us to look over and do a good physical examination. The poor guy was emaciated and just so low on energy. His hair was matted up into one large rug covering his whole body except around his neck where it looked as though he had been shaved. His total body weight was 3.6 pounds.

We pulled blood for a heartworm test and, amazingly, it was negative. We shaved him and underneath all that matted up hair found a moderate sized hole on his back leg that looked to be an old abscess which had ruptured and was draining. During the time he was being shaved, we fed him treats from our treat jar which he ate with a ravenous appetite. He obviously had been several days without a meal.

Amanda decided to name him Elvis and I am sure he is living in Graceland now. We can't wait for him to come back and see how far along he has come.

Jenkins is Homeward Bound!

We are quite happy to report our supermarkent dog, Jenkins, found a new home today. A Lee County resident visited the Animal Control this morning and stopped by our office on her way home to ask some questions about adopting from the the pound. We told her about our Jenkins and brought him out to meet her. She fell in love instantly. She was certain she wanted him castrated, so we went ahead with the surgery this morning and he will go to his new home tomorrow. We are just busting out with joy at his new home. He is going to live on the Kinchafoonee Creek and have plenty of room to romp around. He can even go for a swim if he so desires. His new owner is a retired school teacher, so they will have many days together filled with quality time and is sure to be a well behaved dog!

Rags to Riches in 4 days!

This little guy is our most recent homeward bound dog. He travelled to his new house of love on Friday for a "trial" and his new owner reports his trial is over. He is has found his new home. She calls him Teddy. It's quite a long story as to how Teddy came to us, but the short story is as follows. He was picked up in Mitchell County by one of my mother's friends. My mother in turn tells her friend to bring the dog up to Leesburg Animal Hospital and we would put him on the blog and try to find him a home. This all took place on Monday March 1. On Friday March 4, just three days later, my mother found someone to give him a potential home. As with all the animals we try to place, if they don't work out they are certainly welcomed to come back to us; this is what we told Mrs. Jordan, Teddy's potential owner, when she picked him up on Friday. Saturday morning my mom gets a call from Mrs. Jordan who says Teddy will NOT be coming back to the clinic. He has won Mrs. Jordan over. She took him out for a joy ride and dropped by the assisted living home to pick up her mother so all three of them could have a morning out. She says Teddy was the best dog to have in the car. He rode the whole time in Mrs. Jordan's mother's lap.
It warms our heart to know we have gotten another homeless animal off the streets and into a loving home. Teddy will no longer have to scrounge for food, search for shelter, or drink out of mud puddles. I am sure tonight he has plate full of food, a bowl full of water and very possibly his very own brand new fluffy bed....or maybe he sleeps in Mrs. Jordan's bed! Even better!

Romeo! Romeo! Stand up and walk my Romeo!!

On January 27 Laurel , our receptionist, called me late in the afternoon very upset because her 12 year old Yorkshire Terrier, Romeo, was attacked by two dogs. While Laurel was sweeping off her porch Romeo was in the yard sniffing around when a large Husky and a Bull Mastiff came into her yard and began to attack this eight pound dog. She rushed him to the clinic and we started emergency treatment on him. He had several puncture wounds to the thorax, was bleeding from the nose, his respirations were very quick and shallow; he could not walk or even sit up. Radiographs revealed he had a traumatic spinal cord injury. We were not even sure he was going to make it through the night. But the strength of an eight pound dog should never be underestimated! Romeo is still with us, and today he took his first steps! They were not but a few; they were awkward and clumsy and completely motivated by a McDonald's french fry but they were undoubtedly steps!

Romeo's injuries were severe and it is still not known if he is going to make a complete recovery. His progress has not come without tough times. In the beginning he was in a lot of pain. He would urinate and defecate on himself, and had to be fed a slurry with a syringe. Laurel has devoted countless, sleepless nights to his care and at times has wanted to give up. She even went as far as to have a coffin custom made for him. He currently spends his days at our office underneath her desk. If she gets out of his sight, he begins to get a little noisy and attracts a lot of attention to himself. As a result most people who come in the office hear his barking, so naturally they inquire about his story. We all have been touched by the outpouring of concern for Romeo and genuine interest in his progress from our clients and we thank ya'll for the kind words and prayers.

Romeo still has a long way to go, but today our hope has been renewed.

This is the new and improved Jenkins. Today we gave Jenkins a haircut and a good bath. It was amazing how obedient this little guy was. He just sat on our table and let us trim his whole body, around his face and and ears. He was a jewel. You would have thought he was enjoying it! As you can see from his post haircut picture he really does look more like a Poodle. So maybe he is full blooded. We also tested him for heartworms and he was negative!! Jenkins is ready for a new home!

Found Dog

We have a new homeless dog here at our office. He was brought in on Thursday February 18 because he just walked into Jenkins Supermarket unattended. I guess he smelled their ribs and rotisserie chickens cooking. The lady who picked him up lives in the neighborhood near the supermarket; she says no one in her neighborhood has a dog that looks like him. Unfortunately he did not have a collar, a microchip or any other kind of identification. He is an intact male dog with very strong Poodle characteristics. He is not a full blooded Poodle as he is a little longer and thicker bodied than a typical Poodle, but definitely has the hair coat of a Poodle. He is not very old...maybe about 2 years. For now we are calling him Jenkins...like the dog in the book called Winn Dixie. If anyone knows who he belongs to or would like to foster him, please let us know.

The real Rocky

Our newest medical success story is Rocky. Rocky came to us one Friday morning with a distended abdomen for several weeks and the complaint of just not doing well. Routine blood work did not give us any clues as to what might be ailing Rocky, so we moved on to an abdominal x-ray where we found a large space occupying mass. This mass was so large it filled about 3/4 of his abdominal cavity and was pressing on his intestines causing him to have difficult bowel movements. Not knowing the type of mass and given his age (which was 12), his prognosis was guarded. The next step would be to take Rocky to surgery and to remove, if possible, but at the very least take a sample for a biopsy in order to come to a definitive diagnosis .

This news, of course, was upsetting to the owners of Rocky and was a decision which needed to be made by the whole family; in the end they decided for him to have surgery. Rocky came back to us the next week. Once inside,what we found was a spleen 3 to 4 times its normal size. It was discolored, engorged with blood and very friable, meaning it felt delicate...so delicate that I was afraid it was going to fall apart in my hands. It was a tedious surgery ligating all the many vessels supplying the mass, but after what seemed to be hours we placed the last suture and Rocky began to wake up. Just out of curiosity we placed the removed mass on our scales and were shocked to find it weighed 3.2 pounds!! That is quite a sizable mass for a 12 pound dog! Three days later he went home feeling much better.

Ten days after his discharge, Rocky returned to have sutures removed and for a re-check. His owners state he is a different dog. Biopsy results revealed that Rocky's mass wa a splenic hematoma. No cancerous cells were found. So things are looking good for the Rocky!!