Thursday, June 18, 2009

Minnie Update...

Minnie is going to be one of those 'special needs' cases we come across in rescue that requires a very special person to adopt... Although she is very loving and friendly, she has medical issues going on... Our belief at TLC is that the difference between a shelter and rescue dog is that because these dogs live with us when we foster them, we can give a potential adopter all the information we've learned and observed... And armed with that, educated decisions can be make that create furever placements...

Let's get started... At the visit with the vets this week, Minnie has a heart murmur (1/6 - basically a faint murmur that she really had to listen for... I have a senior right now that has a 3/6 and it has never caused him any problems)...

The severe overbite is really one of the worst health issues she has going on... It causes her mouth to not have enough room for her tongue (which causes that to slip out and hang a lot), but moreso, she's got a 'slurrepy' wet respiration sound... We're treating that with a third (and different) antibotic as well as an OTC med... In layman's terms, she's got major sinus problems going on, so if you know someone who has this, you can appreciate the discomfort not only to them, but to those around them as well...

Accordingly, Minnie snores, coughs, etc... And it sounds 'drippy'... Can't explain it any better than that... She's prone to respiratory infections as a result of the misformed lower jaw...

The other major health issue is incontinence... Initially we believed the incontinence was caused by stress and anxiety... She STRONGLY dislikes being inside a crate in a moving vehicle, but she loves riding in the car (without a crate)...

She's 'hand-intensive' so I've had a lot of opportunities to observe her when she's not stressed out, and the incontinence also occurs when she is asleep... I've been using a cuddle sack with Minnie, so not only does this help in her feeling secure, it also keeps from having unexpected wet spots...

Every dog can find the perfect furever home if given enough time, so that's what we intend to do with Minnie... She'll have a furever home with us as a foster until the right person comes along who will love Minnie despite all of her health issues...

No comments:

Post a Comment